So much more

 

I’ve no idea why I’m writing this article, let alone where it’s heading. Actually that’s a lie – born out of a fear of the reactions my view may cause. I know exactly why I’m writing this, and have a fairly good idea of where I want to land. So rather than prance around the topic like a drunken Irishman trying to find the corner of a perfectly round room, I’ll jump in head first regardless of the likely consequences.
The world may or may not be coming to an end, but let’s not give the weekly atrocities we witness on television as our reasons for believing the ‘End Times’ are here. Wait – whatever else I may be I most certainly am not agnostic or atheist.  Indeed I look forward to an eternity of bliss in heaven as much as the next person. So before any of you judge, re-read that sentence and think again.

Every time we’re informed of yet another atrocity in some far corner of this much troubled world, we tell ourselves it’s a sign of the ‘end times’; that more and more disasters and acts of terror will occur as we approach ‘the end of the world as we know it’. In truth I’ve said same myself on numerous occasions – until a few weeks ago.

Whilst watching an in-depth report and analysis of the vicious murder of a French catholic priest on one of the German news channels a few weeks ago, I suddenly realised why most of us walk around resembling prophets of doom. We were presented with view- points from about six or seven different countries, all saying more or less the same thing – dragging on and on and on. Today’s horrifying news stories are basically presented to us in the form of big blockbuster films – with all the razzmatazz, glitz, and fiendish histrionics one could wish for. As someone said to me a few weeks ago, such is the dramatic fashion in which breaking news stories are presented to us these days that watching CNN is better than watching movies.

And there lies my point. The reality is; atrocities have been committed with the same sinister extent of brutality and with more or less the same frequency for over 200 years. The only difference being that now we have 24 hour news channels and social media – resulting in the media’s ability to not only inform us of gruesome acts and events as they occur, but also dramatize them.

The result? Everyone believes the world is becoming a worse and worse place by the second; and that it’s only a matter of time before Jesus or Mohammed returns.

The facts reveal otherwise. For eleven months during the French Revolution – specifically between September 1773 and July 1794 – the Jacobins inflicted their tortuous reign of terror across France, utilising mass executions by guillotine to suppress all enemies of the state. Approximately 40,000 people were killed. Imagine if CNN was available during that period!

Heaven only knows how many hundreds of thousands were massacred in the eleventh century during King Richard 1st’s ‘Holy’ crusade.

What a media heaven of Breaking News after Breaking News that would have been!

Hitler’s evil extermination of over 5 million Jews – we would have been glued to our screens in shock, anger, horror, and fear. The KKK used extreme violence, lynching, and murder to oppress African Americans between 1865 and the 1950s. Imagine BBC News 24’s coverage of that!

Between 1916 and 1923 the Irish Republican Army carried out numerous attacks against symbols of British power – attacking over 300 police stations simultaneously just before Easter in 1920, and killing a dozen police officers in November – same year .
Imagine Aljazeera’s breaking news stories during that particular period!

Eleven Israeli athletes were killed during the 1972 Olympic Games by the Fatah splinter group, Black September. Imagine what Skye news could have done with that one!

In 1974 twenty two Israeli high school students aged between 14 and 16 were killed by three members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Social media would have had an absolute field-day! On 21st April 1987 a car bomb attack at a Colombo bus terminal killed 110 people.
The British government used torture and mass executions as part of their efforts to suppress the Mau Mau (Kenya). According to Wikipedia ‘659 people died in Lebanon between 1982 and 1986 in 36 suicide attacks directed against American, French, and Israeli forces. 270 lives were lost when Pan Am Flight 103 was destroyed mid-flight whilst flying over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on 21^st December 1988.
During the 1997 Luxor massacre 58 Japanese and European vacationers and four Egyptians were brutally slaughtered by the machine guns of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.

We are of-course familiar with more recent atrocities such as the September 11 attacks, Moscow Theatre siege, 2003 Istanbul bombings, Madrid Train bombings, 2005 London bombings, October 2005 New Delhi bombings, and the 2008 Mumbai Hotel Siege, to name but a few.

The difference between these more recent atrocities and those of yester-year is media coverage. For the simple fact is that mankind has been committing devilish acts of terror for centuries; and for the same basics reasons – independence, religion, racial hatred, significance, money, power, territory, and relevance.

I sometimes wonder whether the likes of Isis and Al-Qaeda would be so effective without the mass media coverage their evil acts command. After-all their biggest aim is to destroy the most fundamental facet of our way of life – Freedom. In this light, with the help of the mass media they have more or less consigned much of this world to a life of fear, worry, suspicion, resentment, hate, and acute paranoia. It is for this reason that the Brexiteers won, and why Donald Trump may win in November.

So this is my point. Acts of terror (not to mention natural disasters, but we don’t have time for those today) have plagued this planet for centuries.

I’ve no idea when Jesus will come again; and although I look forward to when he does, I believe it’s far better to focus on the good things that still occur as against allowing the albeit more frequent darker events to persuade us to surrender our more selfless, loving, and happy desires and pursuits. For this is what our constant referral to the ‘end times’ does. It promotes nonchalance and laziness with regards to what can be done to make this world a better place, and encourages self-centeredness.

Paul’s instruction for us to focus on ”whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, and whatever is admirable” has never been more relevant and necessary.

We must continue to strive to make this world a better place – resolving conflicts, finding cures for illnesses, implementing strategies for poverty alleviation, and so much more.

Let’s focus less on ‘end times’ and more on how we can join hands to make this world a more Loving, Peaceful, United, Safer, and Happy Place.

 

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