Turn Off the News

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Since the Garden of Eden, mankind has had the insatiable longing for knowledge. So much so that it is what led to the entrance of sin into what was meant to be a perfect world.

Oftentimes we even claim that we are only seeking knowledge so we know how to appropriately pray for someone. It’s an ironic sentiment considering Romans 8:26-27:

Romans 8:26-27

New International Version (NIV)

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

People, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we don’t know how to pray. Why do we lie to ourselves about this need to know the details?

As the news unfolded on Friday about the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, I became hysterical. I stood in front of the television crying… needing to know what happened. After all, I have a kindergartener. This could have easily been happening to me. I wanted to know every detail. Why? Because somehow I convinced myself that if I knew what happened, I could protect my babies better. Ridiculous, but a fairly normal reaction

My hysteria wasn’t helping anyone and I quickly realized I needed to turn the news off. But I still wanted to know… Periodically throughout the day, I checked the internet for updates. Each time reading a statement that made me cry. I mean seriously, there are no words to respond to this insanity. How have we become a society where school and other public shootings are commonplace? Isn’t this America… the leader of the free world? What is happening?

Yesterday, I came upon a statement made by Morgan Freeman about why he thinks this keeps happening. But the statement was so profound that I am finding myself sharing it with you on this somber Sunday morning.

“You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here’s why.

It’s because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine? Disturbed People who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he’ll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN’s article says that if the body count “holds up”, this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer’s face on all their reports for hours.

Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer’s identity? None that I’ve seen yet. Because they don’t sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you’ve just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man’s name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You can help by turning off the news.”-Morgan Freeman

So I implore you to turn off the news. Remember the victims. Let the Holy Spirit intercede with wordless groans as you pray. Pray for something to change.

**I have since learned that Morgan Freeman did NOT make this statement. Regardless, it's a statement that was thought-provoking enough to share. And I still believe we should turn off the news.