WE ARE living in revolutionary times. The rise of aggressive interviewing techniques and constant campaigns against public figures puts one in mind of the French Revolution.
One day it’s a bishop, the next it’s a sports star, then a politician. Each campaign dies off if a more interesting one presents itself: up to the guillotine, off with the head, and away with the mob to find the next victim.
Somewhere in the background, the quiet wisdom of the words of Christ persists: “Let the one without sin cast the first stone.” But this doesn’t stop us.
The problem is that there does not seem to be any coherent or identifiable ideology behind this revolution.
The ongoing targeting of public figures over their sexual or financial records is the only constant in this movement.
Breaking news has replaced breaking bread as our central sacrament of life.
This is true even when the so-called “news” is tawdry and unremarkable. Trite gossip has replaced dialogue. It’s an easy way of living. By maintaining our focus on the problems of another, we can avoid dealing with many of our own.
When no public figure is available for slaughter, we revert to tales about the criminal lives of the poor, and suggest that education is the answer. This, naturally, presents an occasion to attack the Minister for Education, and so the revolution resumes.
Surely, as intelligent beings, we are entitled to a better life than this? “Twenty-four hour news” would be a service if there were, indeed, news to fill 24 hours.
Our lives are assailed by a constant repetition of irrelevant banalities that serve only to darken our minds.
A show of empathy towards another human being quickly halts any inclination to steer the discussion around to the private lives of golfers and politicians. It also affirms the dignity of your own humanity: it shows you are still capable of sympathy for somebody else; it shows you are still alive.
When wrath was listed as a deadly sin, it found its proper definition. A deadly sin destroys the sinner to a point of no return.
Anger, on the other hand, is a measured response to a specific situation. However, cumulative anger can become wrath, and is always to be found bubbling beneath the surface of any revolution.
Drumming up mass hysteria against an identifiable group is the first step in any war, pogrom or revolution.
The answer lies in our own personal choices, however small. If we surround ourselves with aggression and wrath we will become aggressive and wrathful.
In answer to the depression of 24-hour “news”: there are gardens to be weeded, families to engage with, books to be read, dinners to be cooked, stories to be told and prayers to be prayed – that is, if you are still truly alive.
– F Mac E