The Work of Good People: The Real Breaking News

The urge to find justice for those who have been wronged is a powerful urge and a virtue. But it can be turned against us.

It has been used by the immoral to pit blacks against whites, one religion against another and person against person for far too long.

Commotion on the street with riot police
Photo by kojoku/Shutterstock.com

Immoral people—people who will use others covertly to win power, money, security or revenge—will pervert this virtue to get others to carry out their dirty deeds while they sit back in relative safety and watch the resulting carnage.

When the dust settles, they tiptoe over the bodies and, with clean hands, collect their booty.

We have a situation right now where a certain TV personality has pushed out lies and slander about my religion in an effort to stir up “the urge for justice,” or “righteous indignation” in those who cannot or will not look at the facts for themselves.

As a result, hate crimes have been perpetrated by her deluded followers.

Reality TV has shown us the filthy underbelly of human behavior and tried to push the narrative that being cruel and bullying are ways to succeed in life.

And you see more and more of man’s inhumanity to man as a result.

Perhaps it is time to replace the righteous indignation in our hearts with the swell of love and compassion we feel when we do truly lift another person up.

The media creates the “perceived” reality in this country, not the other way around.

And the reality created is the reality that feeds the media machine: chaos, division, hate, bloodshed and confusion.

Until recently, the media thought it had succeeded in driving a wedge between races and groups in society and stirring up righteous indignation in us, one against the other.

A Scientology Volunteer Minister provides food to a little girl
A Scientology Volunteer Minister provides a hot meal to a little girl after Hurricane Irma in Clearwater, Florida.

Then hurricanes Harvey and Irma hit.

And the media could not control the narrative.

Social media was alive with pictures of black people helping white people, white helping black, and all colors and cultures, all religions and creeds coming together to assist their fellow man.

People flew in from all over the globe. Churches sent teams and supplies.

All of America wanted to help.

And the media’s narrative fell apart.

They fell uncharacteristically silent.

And the truth quietly and gently presented itself in the form of so many good people all over the world pitching in.

For while righteous indignation on behalf of another who has been wronged may feel right, nothing compares to the feeling we have when we have used our own two hands to help someone who needs us.

Perhaps it is time to replace the righteous indignation in our hearts with the swell of love and compassion we feel when we do truly lift another person up.

Instead of concentrating on the handful of murderers and rioters in isolated places, impelled by the purveyors of righteous indignation, let’s concentrate on those who have sacrificed time and treasure to really help their fellows—OUR fellows.

While they are ignored by the mainstream media, they are who WE are.

And they are the real breaking news.

AUTHOR
Chris Ellis
Chris Ellis is an author, music instructor and professional blogger. Chris has written extensively as a guest blogger and has been the top blogger for lifehack.org. She lives in San Jose, California with her husband and generously proportioned Chihuahua, Little.