Did you hear about the outrageous comment by a prominent Christian?

A well-known (infamous?) pastor, media figure, and former politician called for the assassination of the president of a foreign nation. Within hours the comment was on every newscast and the main topic on social media. Hundreds of people called for Christian leaders to denounce the pastor — and complained when the denunciations didn’t come quickly enough.

If you’re wondering how you missed this “news” it’s because it didn’t happen today. It occurred ten years ago when Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on his TV show, The 700 Club.

At the time it was the most talked about issue of the day — and only for a day. What was deemed so important that it monopolized the entire nation’s attention for 24-hours was considered unworthy of discussion a mere few days later. Chances are even if you were one of the ones outraged at the time that you likely don’t remember it at all. The reason you don’t remember it is because even at the time it wasn’t really newsworthy.

Read the article “Are Evangelicals Addicted to Pseudo-Events and Media Outrage?” on thegospelcoalition.org.