Skepticism

Humanists pride themselves on inquiry and skepticism.  The way through prejudice, superstition and unethical knee-jerk reactions entails investigation and questioning assumptions, based on hearsay or lack of evidence.

A seventeen-year-old is shot and killed by a twenty-eight-year-old. There are apparently no eye witnesses to the event. The deceased was not engaged in criminal activity and was unarmed, as far as we know. The shooter is a criminal justice student who has a community reputation as generally friendly and over-vigilant as a neighborhood-watch member. The deceased was African-American. The shooter has a Latino family background with some African-American family members.

Why has the media highlighted racial aspects this event without information about the actual event? Why does a young man of questionable intelligence and training with no civil authority feel free to wield a handgun in a residential neighborhood? Why wasn't Zimmerman taken into custody? Has Zimmerman's handgun license been suspended by the police pending investigation? What is the responsibility of poor law enforcement in this situation? What actually occurred between these two individuals? What is the forensic evidence? 

It may well turn out that Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman intentionally with racial prejudice. However, it could as easily turn out that Trayvon Martin tried to grab Zimmerman's gun and it fired. In any case, the societal damage done by knee-jerk reactions serves no one. 

In a media-driven society, the responsibility of the media to report skeptically and accurately is increased. Unfortunately, in a capitalist society, media depend on revenue to provide information. Revenue depends on advertising. Advertising is sold by the amount of attention a media outlet attracts. This increases the likelihood of sensationalism replacing skeptical journalism. The outrageous sells better than the rational. 

As a humanist in a media-driven, capitalist society, I feel I must always approach news with my own skepticism to avoid being caught up in mindless causes, driven by prejudice, superstition or speculation. Patience is required to wait for the facts of any situation to emerge or to ferret the facts out of sensationalized reporting. However, I think it serves any humanist well to breathe deeply and refuse to be swept up in populist or conformist reactions to life events.