Over the past year there have been many, many, occaisions where our news coverage has been saturated with the gruesome images of dead, and wounded people...here on our own continent and in other countries. It has become commonplace to turn on the television and hear the butcher's bill for the most recent accident/attack/natural disaster and disease.
I don't think this is a new phenomenon, although our world is definitely going to hell in a handbasket, but our technology has allowed these events to be broadcast immediately, totally unfiltered, right into our homes, and hands.
Last year someone held a camera phone to document the last moments of Neda's life, sprawled on the road where she had been shot down while watching the Iranian Protests. The footage was raw, and disturbing, and ultimately she became the martyr of the Iranian protests.
In Haiti, a cnn crew stands by and films the last breath of a haitian man who has been bludgeoned by police, for allegely stealing rice. There he lies...alone...reaching out a hand...there's no one there to hold it...they're too busy taking his picture...I want to vomit!...and told them so. Shame on you CNN.
Most recently at the Olmpics the Georgian luge athlete flies off the track going 140 km an hour, and slams into a girder. Despite the fact that this is only a practice run, there's someone there with a camera and the images of his fatal accident are pretty much immediately loaded onto youtube and viewed by children and adults alike. You tube takes it down, but not before millions have viewed it. Debates begin on the internet about the public's right to view this footage. Some even have the audacity to argue that it is neccessary to view it in order to decipher the cause of this terrible tragedy! Are you kidding?
For a fee on the internet, you can also view Daniel Pearl being decapitated!
I know that we have this weird thing as humans, to want to watch this stuff...and the more we watch the greater shock value we need. My Dad got really upset with me one night when we were debating what movie to watch, and they were all pretty much murder/thriller stories. I wasn't very happy being told off at the time, but it gave me pause to think about what I put into my head. The idea of self censorship, and it's benefits, are not a new concept...it's actually a Biblical truth. God knew how good we could get at messing up our heads among other things! This is what the Bible suggests....and following that there is a very interesting article on why we might find this stuff so fascinating!
Philippians 4:8 (The Message)
Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
Why are we facinated by war?
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