Watch Where the Camera is Pointing

By: Chris Johnson

As war grinds on in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict blazes afresh, another war is taking place on United States’ soil. Rather than bullets and bombs, the weapons of this conflict are headlines, hot takes, and heart-rending stories. Proverbs 18:17 says, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him,” but Proverbs doesn’t drive web traffic or post engagement, and it certainly doesn’t send money.

With America’s reputation as the “leader of the free world,” less prosperous nations have realized something which many Americans have not yet: American compassion is a powerful weapon. When trouble brews in our allies’ homelands, one of the first tactical maneuvers is for their leaders to book very public meetings with US officials and media appearances on friendly talk shows, then with the support of their cable-watching constituents, Congress gets out the checkbook.

Meanwhile, their enemies run subversion campaigns on social media and on lesser-known, sympathetic news sites and channels. These are running the same play; if there’s not a consensus among American voters on who to support in a conflict, American politicians are much less likely to vote to give their enemies money.

This is seen most frequently by Ukrainian Prime Minister and former actor, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who on occasion, flies over to ask for support in pushing back their Russian aggressors. Never clean shaven, always dressed as if he just emerged from a bunker in combat boots and a crew neck sweatshirt, but always with a fresh haircut, this head of state is often seen with movie stars and celebrities, keeping his cause in front of the camera and raising awareness of the conflict.

This is not to comment on US’ support of any side in any conflict, simply to observe how the game is played.

Each news agency with their own ideological bias diverts their audience’s attention away from those events which detract from their goals, while focusing their attention on those events which prove their point. The trick becomes simpler as their audiences self-select to consume those sources which confirm their own biases and the audiences harden as detractors are painted as either evil or stupid.

And this is by no means limited to international news. The long-range compassion “arms race” has a close quarters parallel back home: guilt. This was the weapon used by Black Lives Matter and by those pushing the Covid shot; it’s used by legacy media whenever they bring out the “racist” or “white supremacy” labels. Do you remember when there was concern that Covid was a biological attack by China? The news media’s response was: “that’s racism.” Guilt is the first tactic to be used when discussing the immigration crisis, or LGBTQ, or abortion “rights.” How could you, a thriving citizen of the most prosperous country in the world, deny happiness or prosperity to this poor, unfortunate [fill-in-the-blank]?

As we look ahead to the presidential election, you can already see how it’s going to play out. If Donald Trump can be convicted of anything at all, his supporters will be guilty of supporting a convict. Conservatives are already labeled ‘guilty of treason’ just for asking questions about election integrity.  Once you’ve explained your reasoning, you’ll simply be guilty of ‘hate.’

So, how do we as Christians handle this emotional manipulation when we are commanded to have compassion and we know we are truly guilty of so much ourselves?

When we see another nation in need and the media takes up their cause showing footage which tugs at the heartstrings, featuring witnesses or family members affected by atrocities or natural disasters, it is a good impulse to want to help them. And so when the bill is introduced to send tens of millions of dollars in a relief package, kind-hearted Americans want to cheer. But this is where the principle in Proverbs 18:17, above, comes in. We’re affected when we hear a sad story and want to help, so we never ask “where is this money coming from?” or “what would that money be used for?”

Inevitably of course, with government spending, the answers are, “it’s our neighbors’ money,” and “it was supposed to have gone to help our neighbors.” The media never shows footage of the poorest counties in America. Why? Because they’re white, and don’t fit their narrative of victimhood. When was the last time you heard about East Palestine for example – not the one in the Middle East, the one in Ohio? Have you ever? Do you think that’s because the environmental disaster just went away? We have disasters here to deal with, yet our increasingly valueless dollars are far more often flown overseas, while local disasters get little response.

And much the same goes for the feelings of guilt ginned up by the media to excuse every failing policy which makes America a less pleasant and more dangerous place to live. When we allow unchecked immigration, we make our neighbors less safe. When we allow abortions to mothers’ who don’t feel they can handle the responsibility of a child, we allow them to place that bloodguilt on themselves and take an innocent life. When “compassion” requires us to let a prepubescent child permanently disfigure themselves as they try to be their true “self,” we are strapping them with a life of confusion and regret. We find, when we stop allowing our media and entertainment to do our thinking for us, that this “compassion” is not compassion at all.

The world the media shows us is one where everyone is a victim and it’s Americans’ responsibility, if not their obligation, to make it right. But just because the camera is pointed in a certain direction, does not mean that’s the direction our tax dollars or our social energy needs to go.

As we head into 2024, let God’s Word guide our compassion and our love, not the media, and may we live in a way that shows our gratitude to God for overcoming those things we are truly guilty of.

 

To view this article in your browser, Click Here

For more information, articles and newsletters, please check out our website at https://americandecency.org/

You can support ADA financially by visiting: https://give.cornerstone.cc/americandecency

 

---