So this morning I came across another rant-topic and this is aimed particularly at Christian broadcasters, but also at the media in general.
Lies within the media are probably the biggest reason why few people pay attention and why those who do are so misled or uninformed about the reality of the world today.
The case in point is the story told on a Christian Radio station this morning: A child goes to school for the first time and coming home after their first day the parent asks the child what they learnt. The child replies “I learnt that there is no way to prove that Jesus ever existed!”
There are several problems with this story, allow me to outline them.
Firstly, let us look at the first day of school logically. Elementary school is primarily for learning the basic subjects – English, Math, etc. Theological debates or discussions typically wouldn’t occur until at least Middle School, or more likely High School.
Even then, and this becomes the second point, they cannot be initiated by a teacher. The teacher may prompt, but cannot explicitly begin a discussion. The teacher also cannot teach their personal beliefs as fact. If it isn’t in the curriculum, it isn’t being taught. And if it is it should be being reported to the appropriate authority, and not reported on by the media.
This has been a trend for the longest time and it’s not just within the media, it’s by word of mouth also. Here are 3 simple ways to check if what you’ve heard is true:
- Look at it logically. If you add 2 and 2 and get 5 while you’re looking at the statement, there is something wrong.
- Research it. Whether online, in the library, or discussing with others who know or have experience, find out more about things rather than just mindlessly repeating stories in a chinese-whispers fashion.
- Ask the person who told you what proof they have. If a person is just passing on a story, there is every possibility that it is not 100% true.
In the case of the story above, it is possible that aspects of it are true, but if mis-told down the line then it becomes what it is today. Consider a High School student on the last day, happening on a theological debate where the comment arises – that it is possible Jesus was not a real person. The student comes home and tells mom and dad. The parents tell the story to a few people that the student was taught Jesus wasn’t real. Keep this going down the grapevine and it only takes a few steps with mis-tellings, incorrect recallings of the story etc and it becomes a 5 year old going to Elementary being taught as fact on the first day.
It seems silly but if you’ve ever played “Chinese Whispers,” or even just observed people in groups, you’ll realize it translates into reality dangerously closely. Next time you receive a “Hey check this out” email, go and take a look at Snopes website, an amazing resource for finding out if the rumor being spread is true, false, a combination or was unverifiable. A good 90% of emails I receive like this are either blatantly false, or are mostly false merely with enough elements of truth to be believable.
Here are some common examples, particularly related to the religious group:
As you can see from the written evidence these are all lies, and from a little research and/or thinking it can be proven in quite simple terms that the claim is false.
My plea to the Christian community, to the media, stop mindlessly passing on stories, stop making up stories that could be taken as fact, in all seriousness it just makes us look bad that so many are so gullible, and makes the truth look that much less truthful.
