4 April 2019: What to do about Rupert Murdock?
The New York Times has written a series of articles confirming what many of us knew about the evil of this individual and many of his family members.
My definition of evil is nonpartisan, but fits Murdoch precisely: repeated dishonesty; promoting hatred, violence and bigotry; taking away the rights of others; using government and charity to benefit oneself and one's friends; supporting dictatorships; weakening democracies and supporting other evil people.
How should we respond to this evil? The Haggadah gives good advice: "But we abstain from dwelling on the deeds of evil ones lest we defame the image of God in which man was created." I am working on two tracks: (a) be the best person I can be, as a way of indirectly fighting evil in general; (b) shunning any business associated with the Murdoch family. This includes reading, watching or any involvement with Fox, its affiliates and even the Wall Street Journal.
But, you say, there are good aspects of these businesses. I don’t dispute that, but believe, at least for me, that I want to stay as far away from evil as possible. I know that there is a possibility that I can be seduced by evil, and the best way to prevent it is to avoid it. We have seen how good people have been damaged by associating with evil, whether from the left (Kwame Kilpatrick) or the right (Trump). I have little experience or training in resisting evil. Do you?
Let me know your thoughts on other things you are doing to counter the Murdoch threat.