[...] how fast and plentiful information is today. 2) It is not as bad as it seems. Seeing as how I have already written on number 1, let me talk about 2 for a [...]

Amos 3:6-7 (NKJV) “[Question:] If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it? [Answer:] Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.”

In other words, a natural disaster is just a natural disaster not a punishment from God, Unless God announces otherwise by a prophet. But Pat Robertson aint no prophet.

Sarah, Haiti is poor because successive generations have considered it enough to simply throw money at it. There are, if my information is correct, about 10,000 aid organisations in there and what difference have they made? Nothing?

Socialism only shares the misery equally. It has not worked in any country, and it is theft for you to take money from people who have worked for it and give it to people who have not. That is what the left mean by “redistribution.”

Poverty of mind, corruption of government, a cycle of dependency, these things pull people down far more quickly than some belief in inequality. Moreover the attitude you espouse reduced the Haitians to the level of children, unable to succeed unless the white man fix things for them.

Better by far to ask them what they need in order to help themselves.

Hi Michael:

Thanks for this post. I think you’ve expressed sensible principles for properly reacting to the barrage of bad news one is exposed to all the time in this media-saturated world we live in. I agree with you– the endless stream of bad news can overwhelm if one isn’t careful. It may cause us to forget that God is really in control, despite all the bad things that happen.

As I read your article, you are certainly not advocating that Christians develop cold hearts or become apathetic to all the suffering. Yet you remind that there’s only so much one can do. I agree — God calls us to do what we can do and live in peace and not get stressed out. Even Jesus once said, “the poor you always have with you…”

Which I think means that in a fallen world, troubles will always surround us and there will always be someone in need of help. Christians should respond, but not out of guilt or despair. Knowing that He is in control, we respond with the love of God and by faith in Him, trusting in Him as the source of our compassion and of whatever ability we may have to help. At the same time, we ought to stir up compassion within ourselves, if we find it lacking.

It’s also a wake-up call for Haiti to correct the gross inequalities within itself. As the second American country to gain independence from its European parent, it has had 200 years to overcome the past and build a society.

Haiti is in a bad way not just because of the earthquake but mainly because it is poor. If an earthquake of that size hit California or Japan (and they do), the situation would be entirely different because the infrastructure is built to cope with quakes. This is a man-made catastrophe caused by the injustice which has created such poverty. Turning away because it makes us feel too depressed is not the answer. It should upset us! And it should motivate us to work to correct the gross inequality of wealth in the world. Surely that is the meaning of suffering – it’s a wake-up call to love our neighbours as ourselves. And whether you like it or not, we now live in a globalised world where even people quite far away are actually our neighbours too. Unless you only consume products manufactured in your own country, only eat food grown in your own country, and your country is built on wealth that wasn’t gained through slavery and colonialism.

Not exaggerating here, Michael, but this is the most realistic reflection on the topic I’ve ever read. Mostly, the tendency is to write from a woodenly academic perspective. But it was very refreshing to read your’s. Thanks!

I hope that the blogs will allow that information to be less biased than the tv networks. and more accountable through comments

Good thoughts here, Michael. If we prioritize ministering to the needs of those close at hand we have greater opportunities to encourage them in Christ…toward Christ. God has placed each of us in the community where He can and will use us if we remain available to Him.

Darrin/Aaron: Remember that “if it bleeds, it leads.” Bad news is more arresting than good, so it’s in the media’s economic interests to use modern communication to perpetually dig up something bad in the world to draw viewers. Good news gets tucked in at the end of the half hour as the “human interest story” in a vain attempt at bringing balance. The world is seriously screwed up, that’s for sure, but to think that media saturation and global communication has brought comprehensive and agenda-free Truth to your doorstep is naive.

I think CMP’s call for perspective and prioritization is wise. I personally monitor defense news in some depth which is often even more depressing than headline news. From this, I learned some years ago that as a finite man I do not have the resources to invest myself in every fight, even just emotionally. There is too much. It’s not a matter of shutting out the fallen world but rather recognizing your limits and deliberately (intentionally, if you will) choosing where to invest your resources including your time and emotional energy. There will come times when you have to turn away from a tragedy not because it is unimportant but because so many things are important.