But, if the poll is correct, then I suspect they do know that we are as a society, amusing ourselves to death. And so, I think, do many of these commenters (but do the commentators)? And so, I think, does the author of the song named in the title of this post.
Media Ecologists like Jacques Ellul, Marshall McLuhan, and Neil Postman have given us among the most powerful tools of analysis available to see this. First, they show how we ourselves are the culprit for giving over our minds and consciences to the things we love. Second, they show us how our adoration of amusement (check the etymological-historical roots of a-muse) can be utilized against us in organized ways.
Now, at the risk of offending my many non-Christian friends, I believe there is a simple way to turn the tide here: To God for Illumination. May it always be our starting point.
I am persuaded from personal experience, observing others, media analysis, basic logic, study of history, and contemplation of the Bible, that when one rejects the true and living God who is eager to give us His wisdom freely through the Christ of Scripture, we inevitably give our “God-receptor” over to other sources–especially the things we love. We were made to worship Someone, and to relate to Someone who knows all and sees all for real. Consumerism’s wickedness is in what it supplants, not in what it provides.
Anyway, Enjoy (is that the right word??) this comic adaptation Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, and then ask yourself who are your MCs (to quote top MC Rakim: “To me, MC means ‘move the crowd.’)?
