More people do good than bad. Is this a fact we know, a lie we tell ourselves or an aspiration of humanity? Since a well known tv presenter sadly committed suicide this month, I have been thinking about her situation and the wider situation of humanity. We will never know exactly what was going on in the presenters mind and why she chose to take that fateful act, there a number of things surrounding her life and most of them tended to appear in the media whether true or not. It gets you thinking of what the media portray, whether it be broadcast on television, radio, newspapers, magazines or online, even social media… there is so much media now and they have such a large voice reaching out into the world.
If we look at the stories presented they usually tend to be about war, famine, disease, murder, rape, abuse, economic struggles, political strife and so on. There are some good news stories intermingled but these tend to be short inserts in otherwise depressing regime of news. Sports and entertainment tend to be different sections as they have a greater mix of good and bad, this you wonder if its because there are a greater number of people ready to celebrate a good film or album or even celebrate your team winning. But dispersed in between these stories are those of adultery, lies, drug use, cheating etc.
It makes you wonder what we want as human beings, or is this just the medias view of the world that they are trying to push forth? Is it that they want to pull us apart rather than bring us together and so they provide us stories on our own society or between different nationalities, races and religions to drive that wedge between us all. Or is it more the case that the media are just trying to make money, keep their business a float and their staff employed and we have put the demand on them for these type of stories?
Do we as humans have a morbid fascination with the darker sides of life that we crave the headlines and stories that are currently being reported? If we look at our television shows, our fictional books, what we consider click-bait online and what types of newspapers or magazines we buy do we not see death, sex scandals, mistreatment of others, corruption or plain old drama as the main threads through all of these? With all of this, do we not think that it has an impact on our lives and those of society around us? If all we view is soaps on tv, do we not slowly start to think life is lived this way and as such think its ok to behave in this manner. especially if the magazine I read and news programme I watch reinforce the reality of what I have just watched on a staged tv show.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not here having a go at the media or people. I just want to ask us some questions that get us thinking about what it is we view and why it is so heavily towards that. More people actually do good in this world than bad, people do make mistakes and then try to make up for them afterwards, politicians have incredibly difficult jobs and try their best to do the right thing in the interest of their country and as such we need to see and recognise that more than the negative side.
I came across a story on the BBC's website the other day that said most of the middle class people in South Africa give around 35% of their income to charity. At the moment South Africa is struggling with many different issues, a lot of which are easily found in the media and a lot of things are dividing the people apart. But here is a story, a moment, a notion that in fact there are people who believe in their country, the fellow people living in South Africa and are helping by doing what they can so that the right support is being provided to those in need. In fact in the UK, people are extremely generous when it comes to charity they will always look to support a cause, even if it is with some loose change in their pocket. A lot of these charities are set up to fight poverty, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, fight diseases, raise awareness and support for social issues whether they are within the UK or across the world. There are people who volunteer their time to help organisations and others, people do things off they're own back to help as well. Things can be really simple, for example when someone has just had a baby, there are people who will cook meals and take them round so that the new parents don't struggle to eat and have one thing less to worry about.
I think we find that people do what they can to help (and ultimately inspire) others around them. If we look on a big scale, government leaders do what they can to help their countries population by protecting them, making sure they have the right infrastructure around, supporting and strengthening the economy so there are jobs and money that can be earned. They look to find solutions in times of crisis and prevent the same things happening again. Athletes not just compete for their own goals and dreams, but they stand up for things, they look to inspire others by setting the right examples speaking out on issues and at times helping the poor and less privileged than they are. It is the same with some celebrities too, I think the more socially conscious we are and the more we are aware of what is happening in the world the better we can help.
Here is where we come back to the media, whether it is social media or corporate media to magazines, they/we have a responsibility to promote the right stories and in the right manner. There was a tragic story in South Africa this week of an 8 year old girl who was kidnapped and murdered and dumped in a storm drain left to be found 2 weeks after her disappearance. I am not mentioning this as part of our morbid fascination with things and promoting a horrible story. The reason I bring this up, is to say that if we must have stories like this in the media, then they need to be written in the correct and respectful manner of the facts and not embellished to satisfy the innate curiosity or shock value that we as people crave, fictional stories can do that for us. But in the case of this vulnerable girl we need to be reporting the facts and then asking the right questions, like why was the man paroled a short time before when he was a threat to society? What allowed the opportunity for this girl to be taken? These questions are not so we direct our anger and blame and start the negative cycle again, but to fix issues and problems within our society so that there is less of a chance of this ever happening again.
This is where we need the responsible media. We also need to be promoting all the good that people do, like religious groups looking after the poorest or neediest of society, the church I belong to does that on a large scale, but so do Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs. I am not for these religions as I believe in Jesus and know that He is the way to true salvation, but these religions do just as much good in the world as Christians and sometimes together yet we tend to point out the mistakes of the religions or bad characters that come from the faiths and associate the whole faith with that bad act. It is time we stopped this and promoted the good celebrities, athletes, politicians, people of society that promote and do good within our communities, countries and in the world. We should shine a light on the positive examples and in doing so society will follow suit. A fictional story is fake, but a real story is reality and we can influence those to do good around us by promoting the best examples of humanity. Afterall, isn't this part of Jesus' message to look after the poor, help the needy and love your neighbour as you do yourself?
Lets take the time to truly reflect on this, pray to God to help you show the positive nature and cooperation on humankind, who knows we may reduce the numbers of people from suicide, from being victims of crime, peoples suffering globally and even the possibilities of war. I pray this becomes the case and with each persons help, we can make this a reality.
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