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Media Talks of World War III and Apocalypse

The recent escalation in fighting in the Middle East region has raised speculation by mainstream media suggesting that the conflicts around the globe may indeed be mankind experiencing the early battles of World War III. What’s more, some are even suggesting the growing conflicts herald the Apocalypse foretold in the Christian book of Revelation, and that the end of the world as we know it is near. More than at any time before in mankind’s history, technology is making it possible for news broadcasters such as CNN and FOX to bombard a mass audience with shocking images of war never before seen by civilians unless they themselves had lived through a war. Even more graphic images are sometimes released by amateur photographers and independent media, showing the true horrific nature of war in detail.

[top, left to right] 1.) The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse as described in the Christian Bible [Rev, 6:2-8]. Symbolically they represent war, strife, famine, and death. 2.) An Israeli tank fires on an enemy position. 3.) A skeleton-like victim of famine. 4.) A dead man killed by war. (photo 4 courtesy: Dahr Jamail MidEast Dispatches - www.dahrjamailiraq.com)

And not just the horrors of war, but of mother nature as well. The devastation of Katrina, the tsunami, earthquakes, wildfires, as well as the pending threats of global warming, pandemics such as bird-flu, and the depletion of the world’s oil supply all feed the public’s psyche of fear as presented on the evening news daily.

For many people who have never known such carnage themselves personally, it is impossible for them to truly identify with, and therefore empathize with, the victims seen suffering on TV. However graphic the events depicted, for some it is merely a new and entertaining form of reality TV, with little more consequence to their lives personally. Besides, they have enough to worry about with problems of their own.

But now it is not just the ‘crazy’ person ringing a bell while wearing a sign that says “the End of the World is Near”. The mass media has jumped on the bandwagon too.

In the context of 9/11 and the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, and North Korea, in addition to the perceived increase in natural disasters worldwide, the recent outbreak of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel is being depicted suggestively as all being part of a bigger divine picture in which some believe that after a period of tremendous suffering and strife, the Messiah (some call him Jesus) will return to bring Judgment, and eventually, peace to the world. This belief is essentially shared by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Not surprisingly, all three of those religions with ties to Jerusalem claim that their religion will ultimately be revealed to be the ‘truth’, and all non-believers will be sorry they hadn’t believed the ‘right’ book. Faith is a very powerful thing, and if a people believe in a thing strongly enough, they can and will make it come to pass, because they believe it is supposed to. For this reason, people have a way of making prophecies self-fulfilling. The media is now helping to make this happen on a mass scale by shaping the public’s understandings of the world, and the events taking place within the framework of how these events resemble those omens described in the Christian book of Revelation. The horrors and strife being reported with ever more regularity from around the world, both manmade and natural, fit the descriptions given as signs in the Bible that the time of Judgment is near. When the media inculcates this message by featuring it over and over in various segments, eventually it can become ‘the Truth’ to an audience.

[clockwise from top left] 1.) Shocked from a Hezbollah rocket attack, an Israeli woman receives aid. 2.) The grisly task of recovering and identifying sometimes mutilated bodies. 3.) Israeli artillery firing at an enemy position. 4.) A suicide bomber on a bus wreaks devastation. 5.) Children are not spared. 6.) The Israelis complain that Hezbollah pack their bombs with nuts and bolts to inflict maximum damage, such as seen from these leg wounds. The Arab side complains the Israeli missiles use burning phosphorous. 7.) Each day brings more grief. 8.) Israeli aid workers. (photos 1,3,4,6,7,8 courtesy: The Palestinian Name www.palestinename.com) (photo 2 courtesy: Dahr Jamail MidEast Dispatches - www.dahrjamailiraq.com) (photo 5 courtesy: www.allaahuakbar.net)

Whether or not the current world’s conflicts are part of a divine battle between good and evil, the Middle East crisis certainly has the potential to escalate quickly. Whether or not the world has already been in World War III since 9/11, or just very close to it seems to be a matter of perception. The Global War on Terrorism, as President Bush named it, is by definition, a world war, a view shared by second in command for al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri, who claims that al-Qaeda now views “all the world as a battlefield open in front of us”.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair recently called for a new approach to douse the hatred that inspires such radical Islam. “We will not win the battle against this global extremism unless we win it at the level of values as much as force, unless we show we are even-handed, fair and just in our application of those values to the world.” He continued, “progress will not happen unless we change radically our degree of focus, effort and engagement, especially with the Palestinian side.”

Ironically, the word Apocalypse, long associated with images of carnage and the destruction of the world, technically refers to the unveiling of God and His secrets. Perhaps once revealed, we’ll understand what God really meant all along.

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