I don't like watching the news. It's creepy. The talking heads are lovely and articulate, but somehow robotic. How else can we explain the cold and seemingly effortless shift from a man who murdered his baby to the home run "so and so" scored last night, and then neatly close with some footage of Boofie the Pirate Dog?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn once wrote that "Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic disease of the 20th century and more than anywhere else this disease is reflected in the press."
(Hmm, that one is worth reading again).
Is this how I'm going to end my day? Reflecting on a hodge podge of happenings that happened while I was working? I was just fine until this pile of depressing things was poured into my living room (and I include Boofie the Pirate Dog here). I know, I know.... we have a responsibility to know what's going on; to enter into the world around us and experience things as a big 'ole human family. I agree; that's what I was doing all day. News is just sometimes so..... newsy. How many times do we hear or see news programs that find 5 instances of the same crime, neatly bundling them up for us as a recipe for panic and hysteria?
Global warming is behind this.
Solzhenitsyn continues; "In-depth analysis of a problem is anathema to the press. It stops at sensational formulas. Such as it is, however, the press has become the greatest power within the Western countries, more powerful than the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. One would then like to ask: by what law has it been elected and to whom is it responsible?"
I think the power of the media can be likened to the power of Dr. Frankenstein. We've created a monster and we've zapped it with electricity and now it's taking over. Let's try and be a little more discerning about the stuff we "eat," with our brains as well as our bellies. Let's find news sources that are less sensational and a little more humane. We can really silence this media beast if we band together with the torches of truth and compassion. And if the monster feeds off of electricity, well, we can defeat it by... unplugging it. Now there's an idea...
YIKES!
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Bad News vs. Good News
I don't like watching the news. It's creepy. The talking heads are lovely and articulate, but somehow robotic. How else can we explain the cold and seemingly effortless shift from a man who murdered his baby to the home run "so and so" scored last night, and then neatly close with some footage of Boofie the Pirate Dog?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn once wrote that "Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic disease of the 20th century and more than anywhere else this disease is reflected in the press."
(Hmm, that one is worth reading again).
Is this how I'm going to end my day? Reflecting on a hodge podge of happenings that happened while I was working? I was just fine until this pile of depressing things was poured into my living room (and I include Boofie the Pirate Dog here). I know, I know.... we have a responsibility to know what's going on; to enter into the world around us and experience things as a big 'ole human family. I agree; that's what I was doing all day. News is just sometimes so..... newsy. How many times do we hear or see news programs that find 5 instances of the same crime, neatly bundling them up for us as a recipe for panic and hysteria?
Global warming is behind this.
Solzhenitsyn continues; "In-depth analysis of a problem is anathema to the press. It stops at sensational formulas. Such as it is, however, the press has become the greatest power within the Western countries, more powerful than the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. One would then like to ask: by what law has it been elected and to whom is it responsible?"
I think the power of the media can be likened to the power of Dr. Frankenstein. We've created a monster and we've zapped it with electricity and now it's taking over. Let's try and be a little more discerning about the stuff we "eat," with our brains as well as our bellies. Let's find news sources that are less sensational and a little more humane. We can really silence this media beast if we band together with the torches of truth and compassion. And if the monster feeds off of electricity, well, we can defeat it by... unplugging it. Now there's an idea...
YIKES!
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4 comments:
Sounds great to me
Bill: Most of your posts hit a nerve somewhere, and this one in particular hit a deep one. I graduated from journalism school when they still taught objectivity.
We like to talk about our freedoms in the US, and freedom of the press is often cited, but freedom of the press only guarantees freedom for the press -- not Americans' (or Catholics') access to getting our stories and truths published or broadcast.
I'm not ready to give up electricity yet, but I do enjoy using the on/off button today more than I used to...
Keep up the good news.
I agree! I get so depressed hearing about people killing kids in schools, torturing one another, drugs wars, destruction of our beautiful "garden of eden" - the earth and all it's wonders, out of greed; then there is world hunger, global warming...and I wonder, How does God feel? Is He sitting next to me listening? Is He just watching sadly shaking His Head in sorrow? How sad Bill is this? How sad is the image of our Lord shaking His head in sorrow? Who is comforting Him? Are there any "counselors" being sent to Heaven to comfort the Heart of Hearts? No, He only has us.
So, I don't listen much to the news or read the papers that I have delivered to my door! Ignorance is bliss. That is why some people are made to "do" and others to "undo", Martha and Mary.
Prayers undo the wrongs, undo the Savior's pain , so pray, and stay the course which is long and arduous, knowing in your heart that the rewards are "out of this world"
Thanks! Look forward to your thoughts.
Peace,
Bill
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