The End Is Near

As this column is being prepared, news is reporting a meteorite has fallen in Russia with more than 1,000 people being injured. For many days, we have been hearing about an asteroid the size of a cruise ship heading through space passing within close range of the earth. For centuries, people have been predicting a time when the earth will be hit with space junk, an asteroid, or a meteor shower that will impact us as never before. Predictions range from total destruction to the killing of millions of people and altering the size of our global sphere when this unknown disaster strikes.

Some people following the predictions about the end of the world point to the winter outbreaks of spring tornadoes, record snow fall in the northeast, the helpless drifting of the cruise ship for days on the ocean, the resignation of the Pope (the first in 600 years), and other disasters as a sign the end is near. Other people are using these various events to support proof positive of global warming. Still other people are using these events as a notice that we must support Israel, or join them in some other pet project to which they have tied all these various events as a certain sign of the end of time.

We are never at loss for personal opinion to shade our thinking. We have as many opinions as people, and sometimes more. With all that is taking place in our world we have never been more needful for honest, fair, and objective reporting of the news. With the unsatisfied desire on the part of some people for being in the know on every subject, we have a 24-hour news cycle. In a day long ago, the news came to our homes only once a day and at a certain time. That is no longer true. The sudden awareness of what is taking place on the other side of the globe is ever at our fingertips today. With personal video cameras built into our cell phones, we can be sure someone somewhere could be recording our every step and preparing to post the video on the Internet for the entire world to see.

With the variety of opinions and commentaries being given by the various media sources, I am reminded of a statement my father would often say to me. He would say; “Son, believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see.” That saying of my father comes from another generation, but maybe we need more awareness of how events can be presented in such a way as to make us believe what the person giving the news wants us to believe. The longer I have lived, the more skeptical I have become about all that takes place around me, and how the events are described which occur long distances from me. From where I stand, we need to make our decisions based on facts alone.

Follow Ray Newman on Twitter @RayNewmanSr

You might also be interested in reading:

• Should Choice Trump Life?
• 'We the Government' Is Replacing 'We the People'