As I was getting ready for work this morning, my mind fell on the war in Israel, and all of the protests around the world that are connected to it. I was utterly amazed by at how the world has become so divided on the issue. Once again, the people feel compelled to pick a side, further dividing us as a people. One of the biggest factors that divide us is the news media. Ultimately, what we see and listen to has a great impact on how we see things. With this in mind, it gradually becomes clear how we have become so divided.
Although I would not be so foolish to put all of this on the media, I will say, most of the fault lies with them. These days, the news media is extremely biased towards the political ideologies held by the corporations that own them. They are either extremely left leaning, or extremely right leaning, depending on the views of the owners. As a source of information, journalist are supposed to be focused on the facts and present the info based on what the facts show them. They then allow you as the consumer to see all sides of the info, and thereby get your own opinion, but unfortunately, this is not what happens. Journalist today give you the facts that support their particular view, thereby manipulating you into believing what they want you to believe.
In order for one to get the full story today, you would have to watch both, the left leaning and right leaning news media, and then based on what you saw, weed out the truth from the lie, thereby coming to the conclusion of what the truth might be. Unfortunately, this is a time taking task, and many of us have lives, preventing us to take the necessary time needed to do this. We have become so busy as a people, that most of us barely have the time to devote an hour to watching the news, even if we wanted to. That said, most news companies have figured this out. They have realized that since time is a luxury that many do not have, perhaps the smart move would be to put the meat of the article in the title. This way, people will run with the little bit that they read, even though it was not the full story.
Some news sources have even come up with a thing called” shorts”, in which the story plays a 60 second snippet on a topic, just enough to give you the gist of what they want you to believe. This is irresponsible journalism in that it greatly misleads the people. These news media companies have shaped the way the people view the world as a whole. It all boils down to words. Our words have the ability to manipulate the hearers into seeing things the way we want them to. Most people lack discernment, so the things they allow to get into their ears become their truth. Think about Eve in the Garden. She had a conversation with Satan, and because she lacked discernment, he was able to successfully manipulate her into not only disobeying God, but causing Adam to do the same. Words are powerful. The most heinous acts committed in the world were started by the words of one, manipulating others to view things the way they did.
As I considered these things this morning, and thought about the anti-Israel protest around the world, I thought about the news reporting on the war as a whole, and there was a huge difference in how the left reported the news from the way the right did. It became clear why the people are so stirred up. And even when the truth came out about certain events, rather than correcting them, many of the left leaning media kept the lie going, which in turned got the people even more wound up. It was this moment that my mind fell on Judges 21, where it talked about how this was a time when there was no king in the land, and everyone did that which was right in their own eyes, much like it is today. It’s not just about the war in Israel, but other things as well.
The lack of a king in the land meant that there was no form of strong government presence to keep the people walking upright. Therefore, the people lived by their own idea of truth. The moral compasses of the people had become grossly misaligned. The presence of YHVH was not in the midst of them then, just as it isn’t now, nor was there a strong representative in the land that walked according to His ways. As I considered this, I thought on how Canaan was living in the land by their own standard of righteousness, which was anything but righteousness. As a result, YHVH expelled them from this blessed land, giving it to Israel. One could argue that as being wrong, but the problem is this, although they were not given a “Torah” to live by, there is still a moral code within us to the extent that we all know wrong from right. The people of Canaan did not even measure up the basic moral code of that which is right.
We all know that Torah is comprised of about 613 commands, and for those who don’t know this, they at least know of the Ten Commandments. These Ten Commandments are pretty much a moral code if you will. They address our interactions with God and our fellow man. In the mist of these Commandments, there is one that stands out as I write this blog, and that’s the one about being a false witness or rather giving a false testimony. In other words, we are not to go out and lie on people. This command is being brutally butchered by journalist today, as they not only lie on people, but manipulate many more to believe the lies. What we fail to realize is that although we can get away with that in our society, this will not be the same when we stand before God. When we manipulate people into believing a lie, and it causes people to act out on others, based on that lie, you have become a stumbling block for that person. We will be held accountable for everyone that we mislead by our words.
As I watch the anti-Israel protest all over the world, I can’t help but feel bad for all of the journalist all over the world that have knowingly surpressed the truth for the sake of vilifying Israel in the eyes of the world, causing people everywhere to attack innocent Jews, and chant horrific things towards them. They clearly fail to realize that Israel has never stopped being the apple of YHVH’s eye, and when considering biblical history, every nation that has ever cruelly mistreated them were harshly judged by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Can we honestly expect anything less to happen to us?
