Faking News
I read an article yesterday that stirred up such emotion in me that I wondered if it was true.
With all the talk of Fake News, stories people make up to attract readers and make money off the traffic, I find myself questioning the validity of just about everything, regardless of the source.
For they speak bombastic nonsense, and with licentious desires of the flesh they entice people who have just escaped from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for people are slaves to whatever masters them. - 2 Peter 2:18-19
As Peter tells us, we are slaves to whatever masters us. We are like leaves blowing in the wind sometimes, allowing ourselves to be carried off in flights of fancy by the power of a convincing story or outlandish lie.
The more outrageous the story, the more likely we are to believe it.
I heard a report yesterday that in a test conducted by a Professor of media, 75% of people studied believed the fake news reports they were exposed to. 75%!
I wonder if I can believe that.
That, I think, is the problem. With so many lies, how do we know what is true and what is not?
Let those who have eyes see. Let those who have ears hear.
Those words go all the way back to Jesus. In his day, too, people spread lies, trying to mislead and control the population. So, you could argue this is nothing new, but as one reporter put it, never before have so many been able to see and hear as can today with social media.
It reminds me of the Halloween broadcast of War of the Worlds by Orson Welles in 1938. The radio play was thought to be real by listeners who took to the streets in a panic, believing we were being attacked by aliens.
Is that what is happening now with these fake stories and false reports?
Those who seek to control our thoughts, corrupt our minds, cause us to fight one another have it easy. We make willing subjects.
So, maybe we should become a bit more skeptical. Maybe we should take each post with a grain of salt and let it sit for a while before reposting, reacting and retweeting.
We probably cannot rely on Facebook and others to write algorithms to seek out and destroy what they think are fake news reports. They might wind up deleting true speech, real news that needs go be heard.
No. We need to be better listeners and readers. It is a buyer beware marketplace, and we are the buyers.
So, let us go through this day without jumping to conclusions about everything we see and hear. Let's give it a rest, just for one day. And we might find we can live without the excitement.
More to come...