The Problem with Middle East Studies
Reader comment on item: The Problem with Middle East Studies

Submitted by Beverly (United States), Jul 15, 2008 at 15:04

Thank you for a clear and understandable lesson in how journalists can correctly quote, and at the same time, completely misconstrue the intent and the truth of any author.

It would seem that with modern changes in education, particularly in journalism and literature but extending to every discipline, there is now license to "interpret" the meaning of any material, rather than seeking the intended meaning of the author. I find this more and more frequently not only in news information and opinion pieces, but even in the study of Scripture. So often instructors are asking "what do you think about that?", or "what do you think the author meant?", rather than the honest questions of "what did the author mean?" and "what did the author intend the listener/reader to understand?"

The only way to know the truth is to read every reference and every footnote in it's original source and context and understand it as intended by the author notwithstanding how it has been "interpreted" by someone using it as supposed proof of his/her belief.

Thank you for well researched and honest material on some of the most important issues of our time.

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