in media res

I have just returned from an astonishing lecture on Newton and his interpretation of the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Most interesting. And, come to think of it, there has to be some connection to be made with the ways Newton’s work was presented and the media’s dealing with globalisation issues, always being on the verge of a new world order.

Apparently, the claim of humankind entering a “new world order” has been used frequently, again, by American politicians and was a term more than likely to get picked up in the media’s representation of the struggle between good and evil. The notion of the world moving on to finding this new world order, in Newton’s term, can be calculated in taking several steps from the first visions of St. John right through to the seven seals opening, one after the other, to reveal the seven steps right through to the end of the world as we know it. When looking at this notion and the media’s working with not only terming a “new world order” but also claiming that we move on to this next stage and are always just on the brink of something new, something that has never been before – can we say that the media follow Newton or rather the Book of Revelations proclaiming something that is much more religious, even Christian? The steps that are being described in the Book of Revelations talk about environmental desasters, men being slain, peoples from the east and west fighting each other – Newton has tried to backtrack these events throughout history to find out when we will finally find this new world order or how we, then, can calculate the end of this world.

Continue reading →