What is the Truth?
These days I am often reminded of Matthew 24:3-31 where Jesus tells the disciples about the end of the age. It says in verse 10 and 11, “And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”
We are living in a time when people communicate electronically through text messages, Twitter, email, voicemail (with automatic translation which usually doesn’t work) and other ways. There are many funny YouTube videos about missed communications through text messages and the dramatic results. With all our electronic advancement, I wonder if we have not lost some important skills.
People don’t have to write in complete sentences anymore, just alphabetic code words such as LOL, LMK, TMI, ROFL, TGIF, TBH and on and on. Then we have the new Woke language such as: cancelled, FOMO, ghost, hangry, GOAT, etc. In case that is not enough, we have just figured out what LGBTQ+ means and now it is LGBTQIA2S. I gave up on that one! With all this happening, it is no wonder that people get confused and can’t communicate correctly. The real problem, however, has become the unreliability of our sources of news.
In the 50’s everyone listened to Walter Cronkite for the news of the world. Maybe it is naivety, but there was no thought of him lying or twisting the truth. Things seem to change during the Vietnam war with those against the war and those who supported the cause. Journalism was divided as well, but still trusted and even maintained a 72% approval rating through the Watergate investigation. |
Media approval dropped to 53% in 1997, which is the year when social media first started. The approval rate dropped again in 2004 and reached its lowest point in 2015. Since then, overall trust in journalism has risen from 32% to 40%. Still, not very good statistics. Unfortunately, the media has become tied to political parties and journalists write articles to defame the other side. There is outright lying, story-telling, misleading excerpts cut to prove a point, slander, and, unfortunately banning and canceling by media to deny us the right to hear and see both sides.
There are so many examples of false or misleading reporting that there isn’t enough room here to list them all, but let me remind you of a few:
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If you want to see more go to: https://theintercept.com/2019/01/20/beyond-buzzfeed-the-10-worst-most-embarrassing-u-s-media-failures-on-the-trumprussia-story/ or https://nypost.com/2021/06/12/my-top-10-media-lies-goodwin/
All of the false reporting, accusations, lies and misinterpretations have not only led us to distrust the media, but have increased tension, racism, fear, and hatred. The Bible says in James 3:16, “for where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” We understand that “God is not the author of confusion”. (1 Cor 14:33) Therefore, how do we know what is the truth?
All of the false reporting, accusations, lies and misinterpretations have not only led us to distrust the media, but have increased tension, racism, fear, and hatred. The Bible says in James 3:16, “for where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” We understand that “God is not the author of confusion”. (1 Cor 14:33) Therefore, how do we know what is the truth?
The responsibility for sorting out truth from partisan spin lies where it should, with the free citizens who have the civic duty to seek out and evaluate information. Media bias is no longer an excuse for neglecting that responsibility. Several things to do in order to help ensure that you are getting as close to the truth as possible are:
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