In his universal prayer, Alexander Pope makes clear that he knew that the imagination and our thoughts lead to actions.
In Rwanda, media was used to create a climate where hundreds of thousands died, because imaginations were fed by the radio and other media a narrative that led to death
A fundamental tenet of Buddhism is that what you and I see and hear is like a seed, sprouting in the mind. The explosive growth of media and media exposure appears to me to have an enormous impact in shaping public opinion and perception, especially for those who are unaware of that impact, or have not been schooled in skepticism.
After all, just because something is said in a newspaper, radio, or on the internet does not make what is said true. However, in dealing with children and many members of the public, I repeatedly encounter the attitude that anything on television or in a newspaper, radio, or internet must be true.
Given the ability to “photoshop” and what I have seen in movies, seeing and reading are not believing with me – but what if for most people whatever they hear the most, becomes emotional truth?
It is time to challenge media to uplift, educate, and welcome critical thinking, and to praise characters who display honor, fortitude, empathy, and decry violence as a universal solution.
And when the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms were added to our constitution, glocks and uzis and the like had not been invented. Somehow, I believe that the founding fathers would not believe that everyone has the right to own a weapon of mass destruction; they seemed to display more common sense then that and guns were too expensive for the rabble to own in those days, after all.
