Blogs may well save democracy.
To be effective a democracy needs informed citizens. Further, it needs citizens with the capacity for critical thinking. To date the MSM was virtually the only means available by which citizens could inform themselves on the issues of the day. Many of out here have noticed for some number of years now that the MSM has not been a reliable provider of accurate information, consequently citizens have not been able to make truly informed decisions.
Facts, opinion to the contrary, do not stand by themselves, they must be put into a context to be understood. Events need to be analyzed. Until now the MSM controlled not only the facts, but the context. The knowledge and experience of millions will be available to all. The power of the genteel demagogues of the MSM to sway the credulous crowds and stampede citizens is gone forever (well, I hope so, anyway). They tried, and for long succeeded, in shaping the minds of nations. No more.
Knowledgee, it is said, is power. There is truth to that, for without knowledge the people are powerless. But that is not the whole of the matter, for it is not sufficient to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. It is also necessary to act. Having removed the power to direct action from the MSM the blogosphere places it squarely in the hands of the citizens. Further, action implies responsibility, which in turn implies accountability, both sorely lacking in the ancien regime and now restored to us, the people.
As a Christian, I see in this (Going All Mystical Alert!) the Hand of God at work. If the Church (understood as widely as possible) as the Body of Christ guided by the Holy Spirit, then I say that we see before us idols being cast down and God, through the Holy Spirit, is at work among His People. The oracles and prophets of the MSN rightly tremble; they stand stripped and feckless in the crumbling temples of the Department of Truth.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Blogs may well save democracy.
Chester over at The Adventures of Chester was commenting on the the relationship between the blogosphere and the Main Stream Media. Granting that everything he says is basically true, I have this to add:
Saturday, January 22, 2005
God in the tsunami
A friend recently asked me "Where was God in the tsunami?" The assumption being that as the deavastation was so enormous and widespread God was nowhere to be found, leading to the conclusion that either God does not exist or that He somehow dropped the ball.
I note that devastation and loss on whatever scale is irrelevant to whether God exists or not. The world as created by God is good in its existence and generally in its workings. A world that exists is better than one that does not. The way the world exists involves change, some changes are going to be swift and widespread, though mercifully few fall into this category. The fact that the world is changing is good, the alternative is a static world. A static world cannot develop or improve, a world that can improve is better than one that cannot. The fact that some changes are inconvenient to the inhabitants of the world is unfortunate for them but irrelevant to the world considered as a whole.
In this sense the world as we find it is a perfect world, as its imperfection contributes to its greater, though never complete perfection. The fact that it is uncomfortable for we humans who have the wit and means to complain about it is in fact part of the goodness of the world. Imagine a "perfect" world in which humans suffered no inconvenience or discomfort. What would it look like? It would be a world in which everybody had a dry cave, enough game and other provender and would contain no nasty people eaters. Because it is perfect it would remain that way forever because it would need nothing more. The fact that the world in painful at times and that we have the means to do something about it has led to the kind of world in which virtually no one would be satisfied to live in a cave and go hunting and foraging every day.
All very well, you will say, but the fact is that a lot of people died and a lot of people are suffering as a result, what of that?
A lot of people die every day, on that particular day an unusually large number of people died of a single cause. Death is inevitable, without exception birth is a death sentence; death is no stranger to our nature. Yet we rightly fear death, not simply out of a desire for life, but because we are made in the image and likeness of God and so have within us a spark of the Immortal for whom death is utterly alien. Generally when we die those whom we leave behind grieve our loss (the saddest thing in the world is a funeral with no mourners), all the more so when the dead and the mourners are so numerous. In every age and place men have tried to peer through the veil of mortality and discern what lies beyond. The success of that that endeavor can only be attested to by those who have made the journey, and they, having passed beyond our ken, are unperceived by our mortal senses.
Yet faith, hope and love persist, binding us still to those awaiting our company there beyond. We all believe that somehow our life matters, there is or was a plan for us and our death marks a place where a portion of that plan was accomplished and the servant, more or less instrumental to the plan, has been called away to other matters. What that plan in the mind of God may be is further beyond our understanding than the launch of the space shuttle is to an ant on her appointed rounds (not one drops unnoted!). Whether we passively accept or cry injustice the design of God is implacable, inscrutable, and contains us all.
But not without compassion. I have seen that while dying is usually hard, the moment of death is frequently suffused with grace. I have no reason to doubt that those shores that morning were more drenched by grace than by the wave. Nor were the dying alone touched by it. Mercy was much in evidence as survivors repeat tales of miraculous escapes, as often as not assisted by others, those servants who played their part for those who have parts yet to play. Nor was grace stoppered on that day, for all across the globe millions stood aghast as the magnitude of the catastrophe unfolded and they - we! - poured out and continue to pour out compassion and generosity both material and spiritual on those afflicted. This too is no small act of God.
Where was God in the tsunami?
God is all over the tsunami.
I note that devastation and loss on whatever scale is irrelevant to whether God exists or not. The world as created by God is good in its existence and generally in its workings. A world that exists is better than one that does not. The way the world exists involves change, some changes are going to be swift and widespread, though mercifully few fall into this category. The fact that the world is changing is good, the alternative is a static world. A static world cannot develop or improve, a world that can improve is better than one that cannot. The fact that some changes are inconvenient to the inhabitants of the world is unfortunate for them but irrelevant to the world considered as a whole.
In this sense the world as we find it is a perfect world, as its imperfection contributes to its greater, though never complete perfection. The fact that it is uncomfortable for we humans who have the wit and means to complain about it is in fact part of the goodness of the world. Imagine a "perfect" world in which humans suffered no inconvenience or discomfort. What would it look like? It would be a world in which everybody had a dry cave, enough game and other provender and would contain no nasty people eaters. Because it is perfect it would remain that way forever because it would need nothing more. The fact that the world in painful at times and that we have the means to do something about it has led to the kind of world in which virtually no one would be satisfied to live in a cave and go hunting and foraging every day.
All very well, you will say, but the fact is that a lot of people died and a lot of people are suffering as a result, what of that?
A lot of people die every day, on that particular day an unusually large number of people died of a single cause. Death is inevitable, without exception birth is a death sentence; death is no stranger to our nature. Yet we rightly fear death, not simply out of a desire for life, but because we are made in the image and likeness of God and so have within us a spark of the Immortal for whom death is utterly alien. Generally when we die those whom we leave behind grieve our loss (the saddest thing in the world is a funeral with no mourners), all the more so when the dead and the mourners are so numerous. In every age and place men have tried to peer through the veil of mortality and discern what lies beyond. The success of that that endeavor can only be attested to by those who have made the journey, and they, having passed beyond our ken, are unperceived by our mortal senses.
Yet faith, hope and love persist, binding us still to those awaiting our company there beyond. We all believe that somehow our life matters, there is or was a plan for us and our death marks a place where a portion of that plan was accomplished and the servant, more or less instrumental to the plan, has been called away to other matters. What that plan in the mind of God may be is further beyond our understanding than the launch of the space shuttle is to an ant on her appointed rounds (not one drops unnoted!). Whether we passively accept or cry injustice the design of God is implacable, inscrutable, and contains us all.
But not without compassion. I have seen that while dying is usually hard, the moment of death is frequently suffused with grace. I have no reason to doubt that those shores that morning were more drenched by grace than by the wave. Nor were the dying alone touched by it. Mercy was much in evidence as survivors repeat tales of miraculous escapes, as often as not assisted by others, those servants who played their part for those who have parts yet to play. Nor was grace stoppered on that day, for all across the globe millions stood aghast as the magnitude of the catastrophe unfolded and they - we! - poured out and continue to pour out compassion and generosity both material and spiritual on those afflicted. This too is no small act of God.
Where was God in the tsunami?
God is all over the tsunami.
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