Satan’s work is rarely obvious. We like to think that we will spot his devilish efforts, much like the cartoons where the angel whispers in one ear and the red-faced demon sits on the opposite shoulder tempting the affable character into mischievous wrongdoing. Nor does the devil come in the form of the iconic schoolyard bully of our children’s religion books against which all good Catholic kids take a stand.
Satan’s New Name
As C.S. Lewis so eloquently demonstrated in his famous Screwtape Letters, the evil one is a most brilliant fallen angel. In fact, he is the most brilliant. He is the serious embodiment of the humorous definition of Irish diplomacy: being able to tell someone to go to hell so that they look forward to the trip.
The devil has worked through some of the most beautiful, noble, and well-intended creatures, who, for the most part, would have never intended to cause harm and often will look back at the destruction they caused and wonder how they got to that point. Again another cliché: The road to hell is indeed paved with good intentions.
So it is today with the 24-hour news cycle and all of the social media surrounding it. Satan is very tech-savvy, and he has a new name: FOMO. Fear of missing out.
Addicted to the Need to Know
Radio and television news started as a great idea. Inform citizens via a new medium in which they can hear, and later see, the great events of the day as they occur. But we have fallen a great deal from the heart-stopping bulletins of Edward R. Murrow against the backdrop of war-time London, or the heart-rending epic presented over three sad days in November 1963 by Walter Cronkite.
The overriding intention of the 24-hour news cycle, sadly, is no longer to inform. It is to create in each of us a fear that we must know, the most fashionable lingo, the most current meme, the most recent hashtag. It has created in us a fear of missing out, pandering to our most prurient interests no better than the publications in the grocery store check-out line.
The 24-hour news cycle creates an addiction of “needing to know,” much like the Turkish Delight which Edmund could not stop consuming, not realizing that the more he ate it, the more he wanted to keep eating it until it would kill eventually kill him, but for Aslan dying in his place. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe still has much to teach us adults.
Turn It Off
We must stop and remember: Ted Turner created the first 24-hour news network to make money. All television executives ultimately care that we watch so that they can sell advertising at a higher price, and they will do almost anything to keep us glued to their screen and their apps. They use fear and our pride to do so. And by doing so, they take us away from our real work as children of God and fill us with fear, dread, sadness, and more fear. We cower in fear because of them.
Yet Jesus told us many times, “Do not be afraid.”
Stop. Don’t watch it anymore. Don’t listen to it anymore. Turn it off. Then fill that time with so many more important things. Try it for a week and see how you feel at the end of it.
What do we really need to know?
Satan’s Desire
For the most part, we can read a few well-chosen news articles written by reputable journalists, and watch our local news, and we will learn all that we need to know. Maybe that takes 30 minutes max out of our day. What can we do with the rest of that time?
The devil wants us to be afraid and to feel that we are missing out. Remember the serpent’s conversation with Eve in the Garden?
Trust the assurance of Jesus that, with Him and through the Holy Spirit, we will get all the news we need to know.
10 thoughts on “Satan’s In the News, 24 Hours a Day”
So much of what is in the news is ‘accusation’. We are always being encouraged to cast the second stone. . . but much harder than the first one. No wonder Jesus gave him the name of ‘The Liar’ and “The Accuser.’ I never remember him being referred to as the Just Judge. No sooner has one victim been despatched than another is led out for abuse and stoning. It seems there is a market for it! Now we can wash our hands of it all in sanitiser. . . and ask, “What is truth?” to the baying mob.
Original Sin is such a compassionate and wise doctrine. It’s hard to escape from its consequences. . . and effects.
This article makes some good points, but I disagree with the suggestion that one watch the local news. The local news tells you only what they want you to know, not everything that you would want to know. And they often report it in a biased manner that helps push their agenda, if not by what they say, then by what they don’t say or how they say it. Often, one is told only half the story. Many times, persons with whom they disagree with be the butt of many criticisms but will never be given credit where credit is due. This is why it is crucial to read many different sources of news. By doing this you will find that the vast majority of local news agencies and the big networks (CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.) ignore events that make those persons with whom they disagree look good while hashing over and over again those events that make those same persons look bad, or even twisting the telling of an event to make it seem that those persons made a mistake when in reality “the news” is a flat out lie. Don’t make the assumption that any news reader or so-called journalist is telling the truth. They are just reading/writing a script and collecting their paycheck at the end of the week while thinking, “Truth? What is truth?” To many, the ends do justify the means, ex. lying. You have to be smarter and wiser than they think you are. Being willingly gullible and ignorant is apparently trendy nowadays.
I appreciate the thrust of this article and certainly agree that there is much more presented than is actually news and useful information. On the other hand, the opportunities for evil today are so much more prevalent than even a half century ago that being informed of the next evil coming down the road, generally well disguised, is necessary. Sorry, I don’t have a perfect answer but I can’t help but believe that at least knowing the problem helps in dealing with it.
Thank you so much for this article! I feel like it is so timely. I have been suffering lately from severe anxiousness over the state of our World. A friend of mine told me to turn off the news. I need to, but it is so hard because I feel like I have to stay informed. Like you said, I will try for a week and see what happens. I can feel like it is a poison that enters my system, it is toxic and not good for me. God Bless!
Mark Mallet a Catholic apologist from Canada wrote in one of his columns that he used to be a journalist in mainstream media. One day a group of Americans came to train them in a new form of reporting news that was more like propaganda.Those who were serious reports and journalists who would not change were let go.Todays news is exactly that..it’s a form of propaganda pushing certain agendas and narratives.It is divisive and much of it either false or exaggerated..my father in law always says..dont believe anything that you hear and half of what you see.As for shutting off the need it does bring peace..I’ll go one further..get out of all forms is social media and feel the weight lift.Trust in God..because He is all that truly matters.
I think the Christian community need to stop picturing satan as an evil looking demon. According to the scripture satan was a most beautiful being. I think it would be more appropriate to portray it that way. Maybe with a devilish smile and look. Just a thought.
He was beautiful when he was created and his name was Lucifer. Then he turned himself into EVIL and is called Satan and lost his created beauty.
He was beautiful when he was created and his name was Lucifer. Then he turned himself into EVIL and is called Satan and therefore lost his created beauty.
Can someone please email this awesome article to the News Department of EWTN?
They are more concerned with the news now than they are about TEACHING the Faith
I read Cronkite’s autobiography (and Turner ‘s). He would agree 100%. In the beginning, he said news was only 15 minutes – no commercials! It was edited to answer “Does this really relate to the lives of our listeners?” No sensationalism. Anyway, he said news needs to go back to being a public service announcement. He suggested maybe a tax-right-off…No commercials…get back to “how is this relevant to our lives?”
Turner got his nick name “the mouth from the south” because his father sent him off to a military school because he was to busy for children….Ted’s big mouth was the result of just nervous energy from that trauma.