WILL THE REAL BABYLONIAN SOOTHSAYERS PLEASE STAND UP?
WILL THE REAL BABYLONIAN SOOTHSAYERS PLEASE STAND UP?
Who has the greatest power in all the world? Who can make a
prince rakish and cause a princess to fall to her knees? Who is
greatly feared by politicians, celebrities, and leaders? Who can
overtly or subliminally penetrate your day -time thoughts with
images that produce hellish nightmares?. Who can show us
limbless soldiers and skeletons popping out of coffins upon a
sea of murky misery without concern; oblivious to the power of
these images to instantly de-range the mind? Who can judge the
famous prior to a court hearing and declare them guilty? Who can
isolate and marginalize segments of our society with a few words
and a few images? I am sure that by now you know who can make a
president a person of loathing no matter what he truly believes?
The media can do these things because we have allowed them to.
We are afraid of them. They wield the power to make or break
anyone, anytime, anywhere. The media have become the soothsayers
of our times. Very few question their prognostications after the
pundits have extrapolated and peddled their latest books. We are
convinced by the "sincere" news commentator who is ready to put
on his boxing gloves and fight any and every body who does not
conform to his sense of morality. (All the while shamelessly
hawking coffee mugs and books.)
The worst culprits of all are the paparazzi. Who really killed
Princes Diana? Who makes celebrities wish that they were
anonymous and even homeless? Who has turned talented and
naturally attractive people into "gods and goddesses" by virtue
of their beautiful photographs? Being an idol in this day and
age is a very risky thing. Idols are falling. Who is bringing
them down? The very same people who built them up. Why are so
many people afraid of these stalkers? They peddle celebrities;
causing them to have to have numerous bodyguards to protect them
from the people that have been whipped into a frenzy because of
the latest photos of them. Oh, how they love to see the big star
have a public melt-down. Bleary-eyed, teary-eyed stars are
visible in a half a dozen magazines, when all regular people
want to do is to buy some groceries. Are we dealing with seared
consciences at large and in charge?
The question is not why the media have unbridled power, but
rather why has the average Joe puts up with it? Why haven't a
sea of diverse people risen up and said, "enough is enough. If
you do not have any new news, then stop barraging us with the
same old news clips 24/7." This of course, will not happen. All
of these things are driven by mammon. Brow- beating the famous
pays well. What will bring change? My prediction is that the
predictions of the Babylonian soothsayers shall fail: the idols
are falling like Dagon, before the living God. .