Lies Disguised as Truth
“You have profaned me among my people
for a few handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to my people, who
listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared
those who should not live.” – Ezekiel 13:19
It’s all just a masquerade but so many people think it’s
real. They get agitated and upset over something they believe, causing them to
sin in ways they wouldn’t otherwise have sinned.
We gather together with hearts hardened toward others,
righteous in our beliefs and unwilling to listen to the other viewpoint. We don’t
bother to check our facts or review our sources, choosing to believe what
sounds good over what is right.
During my first semester of college, we were required
to take a course titled Mass Communications 101. This was long before tabloids
joined the broadcast ranks and long before the internet was slammed with
Facebook and YouTube and other venues. It was a time of clear lines between
legitimate news journalists and those who shredded the truth in order to sensationalize
a story.
We studied the ways in which tabloids would take a
tiny fact and surround it with what ifs and possibilities and unnamed sources.
A person who wasn’t careful could believe aliens had invaded Los Angeles or a
celebrity was having an affair. No proof was required.
We the people enjoyed that. We fed on what was sordid.
We snatched up the tabloids and clamored for more. It was juicy reading and we
believed it all.
Every now and then someone would sue but mostly folks
just let it go. It’s difficult to prove someone tried to harm you even though
you could easily argue that lies are intended to harm.
We the people fueled it all with our insatiable
appetite for those things that fueled our anger and inspired our passions. We
hungered for reality shows that made us feel better about ourselves by exposing
the sordid lives of others. Our soap operas of yesterday became the tabloid
journalism of today.
I am amazed at those who truly believe if it’s on YouTube
or Facebook that it has to be true. I can only shake my head at those who truly
believe that “news” on television is created all the same. They can’t see that
people arguing about an issue has nothing to do with “news” and everything to
do with opinion.
This isn’t about political positions. It’s about
facts. Just because one person said it doesn’t make it true. Do people research
issues and check facts? No. It’s just too easy to focus on those who share our
opinions and spread their views as facts.
We have created a monster. Or, maybe, Satan has
created a monster and used us to do it. We seek to destroy each other, unable
to share a civil conversation about any issues we disagree on. We are so busy
fighting “for” God, that we’ve lost Him and we don’t even know it.
Satan works hard each day to lead us astray, to focus
our fight on each. Every time we believe his lies, we become less of who we
could be in Christ.
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