Tattva

This article is taken from the book ‘Awaken Bharata: a Call for India’s Rebirth’, by David Frawley. The full text of the book can be accessed on line from http://www.hindubooks.org/david_frawley/awaken_bharata/index.htm

The Challenge of the Information Age

We live in the age of the information revolution, which has taken a quantum leap since the introduction of computers and the opening up of the Internet. The new information flood is changing the nature of the society in ways that we have yet to know and for which there is no precedent. This information revolution is in many respects an information war, with different groups vying to put their views out to the general public as the truth. It is often a disinformation war as well, with groups trying to discredit those who have different views, using the media as their weapon.

 

In this contest whoever puts out information first usually gains credibility by defining the field. Whoever puts out information in the most sophisticated and high tech manner has the best audience in the long run and generally the best success in promoting their agenda. In the media realm packaging is more important than content and strong assertion takes the role of real proof. People tend to believe what is well presented in the media, even if it is otherwise biased or limited. For this reason various vested interest groups pour billions of dollars into this information war, with religious and political groups making great efforts to promote themselves in the new global arena. Advertisement agencies, public relations firms, and lobbyists are hard at work, often to the highest bidder, to give a good image and strong media presence to their clients, simply if the price is right. Even terrorist groups like Hamas have used the media to their advantage, as have fundamentalist dictatorships like Saudi Arabia. The issue is not one of truth but of business.

We live in a mass media dominated society, with daily exposure to some sort of radio, television, computer, newspaper or magazine for almost everyone alive. It has been said that the media is the message, that the media has made itself into the focus of our lives. The media has, we might say, become our mind and influences, if not dominates, our thinking. Many of us spend more time taking in media information that interacting with other people or with the world of nature. These media images serve to color our minds down to a subconscious level. They program our behavior, a fact that advertising has long known and sought to benefit from.

Now this Western information and media culture is spreading all over the planet, including the Third World, with the globalization of the economy. Even villages are getting television and the other trappings of Western modernity. India, China, and Asia in general are being brought under the influence of the media moguls. Unfortunately, this Western media and commercial culture has largely the same agenda as previous colonial forces, which only fifty years ago lost hold in Asia. This commercial culture seeks to supplant traditional cultures with a Western model, not only in terms of practical conveniences but also in terms of thought and belief. It attempts to Westernize, Americanize or Europeanize the world. Western religious groups, particularly Christian Evangelical groups, are learning to use the media for their advantage as well, preaching and proselytizing on the screen, and broadcasting their mass rallies through the media. Yet all Christian groups use the media in Asia to promote their agenda over native Asian religions, which the media stereotypes as primitive or inhumane.

Islamic groups have similarly realized the power of the media and spend large sums to influence public opinion in the Western world, stressing the humanistic side of Islam. The Islamic lobby in the United States is one of the largest lobbies in the country pouring billions into the political and media arenas. In Islamic countries the power of the media is recognized both for good and ill. The media is strictly controlled by the state to project an Islamic image, and portray Islam only in a positive light, while striving to keep the Western media and its views out. The media is a tool of Islamic propaganda with religious shows and prayers as the dominant themes.

Hindus and the Information Age

Therefore the question arises particularly in the context of India: where are Hindus in this information war? The answer is that, with a few notable exceptions, Hindus generally are only feebly present, apologetic or half-hearted in their self-presentation in the information field. The image of Hinduism that prevails in the information age is created by non-Hindus and anti-Hindu forces, not only by intention but also by default because Hindus themselves seldom challenge wrong views or provide an alternative. In this way Hinduism is being eroded, particularly in the minds of young Hindus, who seldom find their religion represented, or who find it denigrated in the media world around them that is rapidly becoming their reality.

In fact one must ask: Is there any real Hindu intelligentsia in the world? Is there any group of thinkers dedicated to Hindu values and causes and making themselves known in the media realm? Certainly all religious groups have their great intellectuals and thinkers in the world area. Hindus, among all religious groups, seem to have the least of these.

David Frawley is currently the director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies, which runs numerous study courses of various branches of Vedic systems of knowledge.

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