Great comments on the media and the Va. Tech Massacre

Allow me to introduce the blog world to a colleague and good friend of mine - Glenn Parkinson, pastor of Severna Park Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Severna Park, MD.  Severna Park EP is the mother church of the church I now pastor and, as I said, Glenn has become a good friend and counselor to me since I have been here.

In his blog from April 18th he wrote some of the best words I have seen on the media and the Va. Tech. massacre.  Basically, our experience of this tragedy has been mediated and interpreted and our responses to it have been shaped by the media.  In doing so the media has taken on a "priestly" function that used to be that of the religious community.  Here's a good excerpt:

The nature of modern media – not just TV, but now the internet and cell phones – assures that selected crises can and will draw the attention of the entire nation. In other words, our own personal trials are no longer enough. Now, we must enter into the personal torment of others – others we do not know, and whose agonies are chosen for us by the whims of the larger media.

I suppose this only seems natural to generations who have watched thousands and thousands of brief stories on TV and in the movies, from westerns to comedies to dramas. Every one of them, from Gunsmoke to CSI, to Mash to Lord of the Rings, are designed to grip our souls and take us through a crisis to its resolution in one sitting. Before movies and TV, people would only be exposed to that kind of theatrical art on only a couple of occasions in a lifetime. Earlier, most drama had been in the form of reading, which invites the thoughtful, active participation of the reader, rather than the hotter medium of theater, which is much more passive for the participant.

Anyway, my point is that I wonder whether managed newscasting has added another dimension to modern theater, and that using theater to model our response to crisis has become our chief method for learning how to live. In other words, are we learning how to behave by imbibing scripted crises and watching how they are resolved?

If so, this is especially significant because in this country, Christian faith used to play a larger role in such a response, even in the media. This response included not only comfort and hope, but also humility before God’s judgment and supplication for his grace.

Now, however, secular institutions have largely taken over that “priestly” role. Alongside the traditional impact of TV and movies, the news media determines what emotionally stresses us, while the comments of institutional leaders and the reactions of the newscasters give us the cues that condition how to respond correctly.

Case in point: the memorial service at Virginia Tech. Representatives from four religious traditions – Islam, Buddhist, Jewish and Christian – all said essentially the same thing as the psychologist, which was that we simply had to hang in there and collectively cope with the insanity of life. No answers, no reason. Just the well meaning but ultimately empty encouragement to cling to others until you can once again get on with your own goals.

From there, Glenn goes on to talk about how we can offer a gospel based response.  Read the whole thing here.

Related Tags: Religion, Theology, Church, Christian, Christianity, Media, News, Current Affairs, Va. Tech., Virginia Tech, Va. Tech. Massacre, Virginia Tech Massacre

Comments

[Jeremy Pierce]

At Syracuse that wouldn't happen. The Baptist chaplain would preach the gospel, and they'd let him. His ministry is bigger than any other chaplaincy, and they give him free reign, as long as he qualifies his statements so that it's clear that he's speaking from his own tradition and not on behalf of the chaplaincy as a whole.

[David Wayne]

That's outstanding - how'd that happen? i.e. is Syracuse just not as uptight about political correctness or does the baptist chaplain just have such a big group that he has power.

[djchuang]

brilliant observation of how media has taken on that priestly role, and perhaps the lexical adjacency of the words "media" and "mediator" shows that connection and legitimacy in some way.. and on certain occasions, the media will interview a clergy member or pastor about certain incidents, to fully take on that priestly role.. with the recent Virginia Tech tragedy, it dawned on me the importance of having that spokesman on the clergy side, and I blogged about how there's a glaring lack of an Asian American voice, and how that keeps us disunified, silenced, and misunderstood..

[Jeremy Pierce]

It's definitely not that they're less politically correct.

[Richard Kindig]

I cannot agree, David. The media are not the problem... see my full reply at my blog, please.

[Richard Kindig]

As Thomas Friedman and Isaiah put it, the world is flat. As Zephaniah put it, the nations are gathered. At Virginia Tech, a Korean raised in America buys a German gun to randomly-yet-willfully kill an Israeli Holocaust survivor, a French instructor, an Indonesian graduate student, etc. etc. Did the media decide we needed this tragedy, and thus play it up? To suggest this idea is to miss the point of the trouble.... I hope you read my full post. Thanks for starting the discussion!