Interest in international news seems to be seemingly low in most of my friends. I'm embarrassed almost to say this, but one time we were going to pray. It was opened for requests, and I mentioned the crisis in Darfur, Sudan. A few knew what I was talking about, but more than a few, were like, "What's happening there." How are we going to be able to pray for the world if we don't even know what to pray for?
I believe that a fair knowledge of world events helps us become better citizens. Knowing what U.S. interests are in foreign countries can help us evaluate the news. Understanding the deep trading ties between China and the U.S. alleviates a lot of misunderstandings or fears that China will attempt to go to war with us. Understanding other cultures is an enlightening experience that I feel everyone should experience at one time in their lives. It helps us to appreciate the freedom that we can experience every day in America. It helps us to appreciate our beautiful middle class jobs, homes, and cars.
Looking world situations such as refugee/starvation/genocide problem in Sudan can help us pray that God would intervene on their behalf. We can call Congressmen to take action to help these people. Human rights violations such as slavery and child labor are happening around the globe.
To be more aware of stuff like this pay attention to these mediums - documentaries on television that address these issues, international section of any newspaper (you can still read the gossip section on hollywood), magazines, internet news is an excellent source.
And lastly - read or listen in surveillance mode...........it WILL enrich your life.
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2 comments:
Conrad...
I DEFINITELY agree with you on that. Everyone seems to be quick to anger or argue about world issues such as the war, poverty, and so on, yet they will not take the time to even watch the world news and see what is going on. Channels such as discovery channel, and the history channel, and so on, are becoming more of a chore to watch than a chance to gain information about our world. I know that I can find myself even guilty of not engaging myself in as many oppoortunities as I can to learn about our country and our world. However, I also understand that sometimes the news can feed us garbage, but we need to be willing to sort out the trash from the valuable news.
in response to your comment... come see "Screwtape" this week. wednesday and saturday shows are still open and there'll probably be a matinee saturday. Have fun in intro!
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