Basic HTML Version
The
Missing
Dimension in
News
Analysis
T
he problem with news analysis
today is that it ignores the re–
vealed truth of God's Word. The
really importan! events of our time are
often ignored or misinterpreted. Real
understanding of what is going on in the
world is lacking.
Jesus Christ once sternly told the
Pharisees: "O ye hypocrites, ye can dis–
cern the face of the sky; but can ye not
discern the signs of the times?" (Matt.
16:3.) How like our news reports today
which concentrate on weather fore–
cas ting, or celebrities, but provide pre–
cious little in the way of coherent,
orderly understanding of world events.
Real understanding of trends and
events demands that we look at things
from God's viewpoint. That viewpoint
is revealed in the Bible, and it system–
atically shows how God is working out
His great purpose for mankind. The
record of
how
God intends to do that is
contained in Bible prophecy. Since the
plan of God means everything to your
eternal future, events which bear on
that plan are the most importan! of
events. But they are woefully neglected
in the secular news media.
In terms of His plan for mankind, the
thing uppermost in God's mind is the res–
toration ofthe government ofGod to the
earth. That govemment will be restored
after a series of prophesied events, which
the news writer's assessment that the
sena torial connectio n made the
Mars to n firing a n " unsurprising"
political affa ir becomes mos tly ir–
re levant.
The writer a lso fa iled to note the
yawning gulf be tween hi s eval–
uatio n of the Mars to n affair as a
purely política! matte r and that of
the President , wh o o bstinately
maintained that Mars ton was fired
fo r reasons o f merit! l f Ma rsto n was
in fact fired because of lack o f merit ,
the n the writer's idea of a political
connection was inaccurate. l f, on the
other hand, Mars ton was fi red for
political reasons, then the Presi–
dent's subsequent justification for
the dism issa l on the basis of merit
would a ppear to be even more ludí-
The PLAIN TRUTH October-November 1978
are laidout in general timeorder incertain
key chapters ofthe Bible.
Thus everything which we report in
The Plain Truth
seeks to relate curren!
wo rld conditions with prophesied
events of the Bible. In fact,
The Plain
Truth
is like the watchman of Ezekiel
33, whose God-given duty it was to
warn tbe people of approaching trouble
when he saw it coming.
As our Editor, Mr. Herbert W. Arm–
strong, has directed, it is the charge of
The Plain Truth
to "cull out from the
vast labyrinths of world news, and from
the Bible, the real meaning
behind
these
happenings-sifting out from the ftood
of nonessential, nonsensical and irrele–
vant so-called news of murders, di–
vorces. scandals, politics. and social
happenings, the
significan/
items bear–
ing on fulfilled prophecy." Those items
are important because they signify both
approaching trouble and the eventual
restoration of the government ofGod.
Furthermore, by watching world
news with an eye to how events fit Bible
prophecy, we get our minds off the
petty. mundane, trivial everyday events
which take up so much space in the
modern media, and onto the things of
God. Secular news analysis in newspa–
pers and on television cannot provide
understanding of the
whole
of world
conditions-it gives only the parts. Reel-
crous. Viewed from either sta nd–
po int, what appears lo be hard news
on the front page of a majo r d a ily
newspa per in reality turns o ut to be
something o f a po intless a po logy fo r
the Adminis tra tio n .
Falthfully Adhere to
the "Official" Verslon
Ano ther method that can be used to
calm troubled wa ters is to rely heav–
ily o n the s ta temen ts of a n " official"
s po kesma n. On e p rominent e x–
ample o f how this technique ca n
have tragic results involves the To n–
kin Gulf inciden!. The press gave
wide coverage to the Adminis tra–
tion 's vers ion of the incident, even
tho ugh there was evidence of irregu–
la rities. An·interview o f 36 crewme n
ing from a whipsaw ride of disjointed
media events, a person's consciousness
is assaulted by every new wind ofmedia
preoccupation. This can have absolutely
tragic results.
Unless we remain alert, the traumatic
events foretold in Bible prophecy may
catch us unprepared.
lt
is foolish , in–
deed, to be like the five virgins of the
parable in Matthew 25 who "slumbered
and slept" (verse 5) and as a con–
sequence we re unprepared for the re–
turn of Christ (verse 10).
We do not know the day or the hour
of Christ's return (Matt. 24:42-44).
Therefore we must have our minds on
the coming of Christ and the proph–
esied events leading up to that coming.
Unless we are alert to the potential for
fulfilled prophecy. there is a danger of
neglecting the things of God altogether.
Christ pul it plainly when
He
said, after
enumerating a gris ly series of events to
befal l the world: "And take heed to
yourselves, test at any time your hearts
be overchargcd with surfeiting, and
drunkenness, and cares of this life. and
so that day come upon you una–
wares.... Watch ye therefore, and pray
always. that ye may be accounted wor–
thy to escape all these things that shall
come to pass, and to stand before the
Son of roan" (Luke 21 :34-36).
- Je.ff Calkins
by the Associated Press raised seri–
o us questio ns concerning this o ffi –
cia l version, but most newspa pers
had no desire to print such a s tory.
The few senato rs who spoke o ut
agains t governme nt po licy o n the
fioor of the Se na te a lso went vi r–
tuall y unhera lded by the press. The
Administration was able to ram the
infamous To nkin Gulf resolutio n
thro ugh the Sena te, which helped
pave the way fo r America's full–
scale involvement in Vietnam. His–
tory was la ter to demonstrate tha t
the Administra tion had been less
than candid in its description of the
Tonkin Gulf incide n
t.
Had the press
not been so trusting in its a ccep–
ta nce of this "officia l" version,
(Continued on page 36)
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