Rational discourse is out. The process of justice that has anchored the Western world is out. Even waiting to get the whole story or see the official report is out. All we need is a video, carefully cropped by the Controllers (as C. S. Lewis called them), and we roll out the guillotines (now literally). If you think this is somehow helping to confront racism, corruption, or any other type of injustice, you owe it to yourself to read about the way Fascist and Communist revolutions begin. Are racism, political corruption, and other forms of injustice a problem? Absolutely. But justice by video clip will usher in only one thing. Mass death. Why? The image tells the only story we want to hear.
Sadly, true. Part of it is the erosion of belief in truth as that exists outside of a personal or group agenda of some kind, or outside of personal feelings. People who see truth as nothing more than “claims weaponized against our opponents” place no value on persuasion, only rousing people to the action they’re seeking. So, confirming and stoking already-existing beliefs is the only goal as far as truth goes–and nothing feeds confirmation bias better than video.
I’ve been encouraging Christians, at every opportunity, to stop watching video for news and information of any kind and read instead. It’s no guarantee but the chances of actual thought and reflection are much higher.