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This image circulated on the internet just after Hurricane Helene devastated huge swaths of the South Eastern United States. Images like these, created by readily available (and free!) tools on the internet, show how easy it is to usurp attention and ultimately erode public trust in the news. Believable lies drive people away from all sources of information and instead of knowing something is “the Gospel truth”, they throw up their hands and abandon hope of knowing what is or is not real.

If you ever ask “what is truth”, it may trigger a memory of a similar verse from the New Testament, specifically one written by John in his Gospel, Chapter 18, verse 38. Upon reading, we learn this question was asked by Pontius Pilate at the end of a long series of shame trials cooked up by the Sanhedrin designed to once and for all silence the dissident Jesus. In his investigation, Pilate said to Him, ‘So You are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’ I find it oddly comforting to see history reveal that people in power have always distorted truth to suit their selfish desires. The one constant in all of history has always been our Father in Heaven; unchanging, sovereign, loving.

Our modern world with all its various sources of information has become a landscape cluttered by “personal truths”. As a young boy, my grade school teachers shared a truth litmus test of sorts with me;
“Only believe half of what you read and nothing that you hear”. This adaptation has its roots in a quote which seems to have originated not in the Bible, but in the Royal Navy. The use of “what you read” rather the original “what you see” was explained to imply that the efforts required to put something into print (peer reviews, editor review, publishers, cost of typesetting and printing etc) helped to ensure the thoughts put to (expensive) paper were truly worthy of the effort. Now-a-days anyone (yours truly included) can put anything up for review and thanks to Internet’s universal typeset/formatting make it appears as valid as any bona fide source.

So how are we to determine what is true? I would encourage you to intentionally go against what your social media algorithm pushes to you and seek out opposing viewpoints. Watching Fox news? Watch a bit of MSNBC or tune into an episode of “The Daily Show” . See something on Tik-Tok about vaccines? Check those claims against positions established by the CDC. Are dogs really living shorter lives and can that natural dog food help? Check out who is sponsoring the “article”. Hear a friend sharing concerns over a political topic in the news? Use this tried and true series of checks and see what you can find on generally acknowledged fact checking sites. Here are three of my favorites:

FactCheck.org: A nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that monitors the factual accuracy of statements made by U.S. politicians, public figures, and media outlets, helping to reduce misinformation and misinterpretations of important issues.

Snopes: A fact-checking website that investigates and debunks urban legends, hoaxes, rumors, and misinformation circulating online, with a focus on internet memes, viral stories, and social media claims.

A Starting Point: A bipartisan website founded by actor Chris Evans, offering straightforward explanations of political issues through video content, with the goal of creating a more informed and engaged electorate.

It’s OK to have differences of opinion, different priorities, and even different solutions to today’s problems. First and foremost, however, we should strive to achieve common ground on what exactly is the problem before we can ever hope to unite the effort required toward finding a solution.

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Writers Block