In ancient times, the Colosseum offered a spectacle of conflict that entertained the masses while slowly eroding the empathy of the audience. Today, the Colosseum has been digitized and shrunk to the size of a smartphone.\n<\/p>\n
We are living through the era of the \u201cReverse-Incentive Podcast.\u201d For a growing number of creators, whatever is bad for the world\u2014division, scandal, and societal decay\u2014is objectively good for the subscriber count. For those of us who see ourselves as stewards responsible for bringing more of God into the world, engaging with this content is more than a distraction; it is an obstacle to our primary mission.\n<\/p>\n
The View from the Frontlines\n<\/p>\n
I have seen this dynamic play out firsthand while working with Jews and Christians on the frontlines in post-October 7th Israel. During the Iranian phase of the war, the disparity between \u201cmedia reality\u201d and \u201clived reality\u201d became a chasm.\n<\/p>\n
I remember visiting the Bat Yam area with several clergy right after Iranian missiles hit residential buildings. The destruction was undeniable: nine people were killed and roughly 200 were injured. It was a tragedy that demanded our grief and our prayers.\n<\/p>\n
However, the legacy and new media machines didn\u2019t just report the tragedy; they looped it. While podcasters and news anchors ran the destruction on a continual reel to keep eyes glued to screens, they ignored the larger miracle: over 10 million people woke up each day and kept going. When media outlets profit from a \u201cdoom and gloom\u201d loop, they strip away the context of resilience. They sell a version of the world where the fire is everything, and the fact that the nation is still standing\u2014and still seeking the Divine\u2014is merely a footnote.\n<\/p>\n
The Profit of Polarization\n<\/p>\n
The business model is simple: outrage and fear equal retention. When a commentator spends sixty minutes convincing you that your neighbor is your enemy or that the world is on the brink of total collapse, your cortisol levels spike. You click, you share, and you subscribe to find out what to fear next.\n<\/p>\n
This creates a perverse incentive where creators are financially rewarded for making the world seem darker than it is. As people of faith, we are called to reveal the Divine presence in even the darkest corners. We must ask ourselves: Can we truly fulfill our role as stewards of God\u2019s light while subsidizing the architects of darkness and polarization?\n<\/p>\n
Practical Steps for a Media Fast\n<\/p>\n
Changing our media diet requires more than just willpower; it requires a tactical shift. Here is how to practically move away from \u201coutrage-bait\u201d:\n<\/p>\n
The \u201cDivine Reflection\u201d Audit: Ask yourself after an episode: Do I feel better equipped to bring God\u2019s peace into my community, or am I just filled with a hollow sense of dread? If the result is consistently agitation without an avenue for holiness, it\u2019s time to unsubscribe.
\nLook for the \u201c10 Million\u201d: If a creator shows you a \u201ccontinual reel\u201d of destruction without ever mentioning the resilience and the quiet acts of heroism on the ground, they aren\u2019t giving you the truth\u2014they\u2019re giving you a product designed to keep you hooked.
\nFollow the Money: Check if the creator relies on \u201cemergency\u201d sponsorship or \u201cprepper\u201d marketing. If their income depends on you being terrified of societal collapse, they have a vested interest in keeping you afraid rather than faithful.
\nThe 24-Hour Rule: Before sharing a \u201cbombshell\u201d podcast clip, wait a full day. Outrage has a short half-life. If it doesn\u2019t seem important 24 hours later, it was likely just noise designed to capture your attention and displace your peace.<\/p>\n
Choosing Presence Over Proximity\n<\/p>\n
We often mistake \u201cbeing informed\u201d with \u201cbeing agitated.\u201d But our shared values call us to a different path\u2014one of discernment, steady hands, and an unwavering focus on the Holy. When we stay glued to the \u201ccontinual reel\u201d of disaster, we aren\u2019t just losing our peace; we are participating in a transaction. Our attention is the product, and our outrage is the currency. Every time we engage with content designed to make us feel hopeless, we help a stranger financially benefit from our fear. We are effectively paying a \u201cworry tax\u201d to creators who have calculated that keeping us in a state of spiritual unrest is the most efficient way to pay their bills.\n<\/p>\n
By hitting the \u201cUnsubscribe\u201d button on those who profit from the world\u2019s burning, we aren\u2019t burying our heads in the sand. We are refusing to fund the matches. We are making a conscious decision to stop enriching the brokers of chaos and instead invest our attention\u2014the most valuable resource we have\u2014into things that build up rather than tear down. The algorithm may want your outrage, and the creators may want your credit card, but the world needs your ability to bring God into the room. It\u2019s time we stopped paying for the privilege of being afraid and started being the stewards we were called to be.\n\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tAuthor and an interfaith bridgebuilder, David Nekrutman is the Executive Director for The Isaiah Projects. For his contribution in advancing Jewish-Christian relations, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of World Religions has recognized him as a Goodwill Ambassador of Jewish-Christian Relations for the State of Israel. Besides graduating from Oral Roberts University in 2018 with a master\u2019s in biblical literature, David Nekrutman is part of The Chosen’s Jewish Advisory Board.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In ancient times, the Colosseum offered a spectacle of conflict that entertained the masses while slowly eroding the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-264891","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}