When I was in my early elementary school years, one of the teachers showed us a documentary about how climate destruction was going to result in another ice age. The film showed the miserable state of humanity living in perpetual winter and scraping by for their daily survival. A couple of years later, and after moving to another state and school district while I was still in elementary school, we watched a different documentary in class about how global warming would turn most of the world into a desert. The movie showed the miserable state of humanity living underground, drinking recycled water and eating food that barely qualified as edible. I remember both of these educational moments because both scared me. I remember worrying about them long afterward and wondering when the world would force us into hiding because of pollution. Fast forward a few years and through several more documentaries featuring dire warnings about impending doom from one source or another, I grew somewhat more cynical about the messaging presented to me by “documentaries” and “news” reports. When the same politician that warns us about rising sea levels buys an oceanfront home, it makes you wonder if they really believe it. Mind you, this isn’t isolated to climate change discussions. The internet is full of memes about surviving the dozens of apocalypses predicted by celebrity religious figures, usually those who sell a book and get rich over the whole thing. No one ever points out that if they really thought that Jesus was coming back tomorrow, they would certainly give the book away because money has no value in heaven. In addition, I’ve lived through numerous elections that pundits have gravely described as the “most important election of my lifetime” or fearfully claimed to be “potentially the last free election our country would ever see.” For me, the whole thing has passed the point of “the boy who cried wolf” long ago. A quick disclaimer here: I am not advocating for any party or position in this article. My objective is to point out a trend and explain why it is happening.
The reason the boy continues to cry wolf louder and more emphatically every day is that pundits, religious figures, politicians, activists, and all of the other folks working hard to scare us into buying/voting/changing our lives/etc. are playing off of a strange phenomena of psychology in which people gravitate to bad news.
Studies have found that around 75% of people would rather receive bad news, and our brains retain/engage far more effectively with bad news than with anything positive. Speaking fear and crisis are better for business and a more effective marketing tools. As a result, the news tends to wildly overstate the danger or crisis elements of anything we are facing. On top of the tendency to gravitate toward bad news, studies have found that the more wealthy people/societies become, the more fear/anxiety they experience over the potential of losing it. The point with the least amount of daily dread regarding the loss of comfort is far below the median income for North America. If you consider those two tendencies in psychology together you discover that we tend to be afraid of something coming along and ruining our lives because we live in the most affluent time/place in the history of humanity and news/marketing/politicians are constantly screaming at us that the end is near. It’s no wonder the consumption of antidepressants is through roof and psychological disorders are spreading like wildfires in our society. What’s worse is that because we are wired to look for danger, people tend to seek out and consume these types of media. They become addictive quickly. We like being outraged about one thing or another and prefer talking about bad news with our neighbors.
So, how do we get out of the constant crisis mindset of the world we live in? To some degree, I would argue that it involves turning off the news and internet a little more often. Very little of what appears on the news will impact your life in any way. Many folks will doubt this claim. My suggestion is to perform an experiment: don’t consume any news for 2 weeks. Watch for how not knowing international events impacts your day to day life. I’m not advocating sticking your head in the sand, mind you. Rather, I am saying that moderation is a far better strategy, particularly in light of the fact that most news involves things that will not impact you in any way and you cannot do anything about most of it. It is just stuff to hear and be angry/afraid about with no recourse or escape apart from turning the tv off. An even better solution is to lean away from larger sources and turn to local news, which involves far more information that is directly pertinent to your day to day life. Local newspapers in particular tell you about people and things you can impact directly. (Hint Hint)
The next, and far more important, suggestion I would make is that we practice “reframing” what we hear. Reframing involves trying to look at stories from different angles in order to change our understanding. My two preferred methods for this are to remind myself that God is in control. This may seem fatalistic, but is very much in harmony with how God tells people to deal with the world around them in the scriptures. A popular and often misquoted verse from Jeremiah applies here: “For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” The plain English read of this text fits, but the context is even more powerful. The text is referring to the fact that God is going to punish Israel for their rebellion by allowing Babylon to conquer them, kill tons of people, burn Solomon’s temple to the ground, and take the rest of the Israelites away as slaves for 70 years. The truth is that even though bad stuff is about to happen, God is in control and it fits His plan for their salvation. The exile was hard, but it changed the Jewish people and set the stage for the coming of Jesus. Turning and relying on God in the face of bad news is the ultimate reframing.
Jesus expanded on this idea in the Sermon on the Mount when He said that God cares for the flowers and birds. You are more important to Him than either of those, so don’t worry. Trust in His character. He went on to say that worry doesn’t do anything anyway. “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
In the face of fear mongering, simply reframing the whole thing as an opportunity to trust God anew is the most powerful reframing you can ever employ.
