Fox 'News' Admits to Lying: But Does Truth Even Matter Anymore?
Hello Critical Thinkers,
We live in a time where experts with YouTube degrees widely spread misinformation, emotions decide what is true, and politicians tell egregious lies about aspects of their lives already known to the public. When truth is no longer our North star, we are living in a post truth society.
If living according to your own rules makes you YouTube famous, gets you elected, or even frees you up to shamelessly let your freak flag fly, the question is:
Does truth even matter anymore in this post truth society we live in today?
In discussing this question I think we need to do the following:
· Explore why Moral Relativism is appealing to so many groups of people today.
· Consider the consequences of living in a post truth society through recent case studies including:
o The 2020 pandemic
o The 2020 Presidential election
o The Transgender prisoner debate
· Establish criteria to help identify a trusted source.
Why Live Your Truth?
There are two ways people believe we should decide truth – facts or feelings. The former seems pretty clear and straight forward. The truth is what it is whether we like it or not/believe it or not. Case closed! However, for many people, and in many situations “truth” or what we deem as “right” is subjective and dependent on much more than a set of data points or established facts.
Although objective truth seems like the logical way to go, moral relativism is appealing today for several reasons. First, there is a sense that a claim to possess a universal truth is arrogant and misguided. How does anyone know what’s true anyway? Second, today’s society is increasingly more pluralistic as a result of the rise of the internet and increased ease of travel in recent decades. In a rejection of past hegemony, all cultures and traditions are equally celebrated. And lastly as we seek to coexist peacefully in a pluralistic society, tolerance is considered a virtue, especially by traditionally marginalized or ostracized groups. In summary post truth says, as long as no one is harmed, everyone’s truth is equally valid right? Even if a few are hurt in service of the greater good, the ends justify the means right? Let’s see.
Is he the president, or the father?
“People are entitled to their own feelings but not to their own facts.”
It’s not hard to find moral relativism on display these days, just turn on any news station and wait 5 minutes. However some events in particular served to highlight just how grey truth has become. One such event was the response to the 2020 global pandemic. Initially, when the COVID virus was thought to mostly impact seniors and would be contained easily, Americans were equally fearful and equally cautious. When it came to be known that the greatest impacted demographic was now poor people of color in urban regions, and business closures began to impact economies, leaders on the political Right made COVID response a political issue.
Suddenly there were questions about potential danger of the virus, the need for masks, and even the faithfulness of churches that moved to online services. This may truly have been a case of opinion if not for the known facts. COVID which was previously associated with poor urban communities, started to cause deaths correlated to how Republican the victim’s county was in the 2020 presidential election. The more the county voted Republican, the higher the COVID death rate. The tragedy is the very leaders that encouraged skepticism of COVID and the need for vaccines were first in line to receive shots.
Later that year, America voters chose Joe Biden over incumbent Donald Trump to become the 46th U.S. President. Led by Donald Trump, most Republican leaders either publicly claimed the election was stolen from Donald Trump or said nothing publicly to challenge this claim, which came to be known in Progressive media as “The Big Lie”. The Big Lie moniker resulted from the dozens of failed lawsuits challenging the elections results. Eventually, some Republican leaders not only accepted the results, but also testified under oath that no evidence existed leading to the claim.
This would have been just a bizarre disruption of the ordinarily peaceful transfer of power had there not been a violent attack on the US Capitol two months later by believers of the Big Lie. For hours, over 2,000 rioters ransacked the Capitol building, defecated in the hallways, and physically beat officers. At least 6 people died in connection to the attack, more than 900 rioters were arrested, and many working at the Capitol that day report subsequent trauma. Speaking of trauma …
In April 2022, a transgender woman (male to female) prisoner impregnated two other women prisoners housed at the same New Jersey facility. The placement comes amid a campaign to have transgendered prisoners housed according to how they identify, whether or not they have undergone gender reassignment surgery.
As someone who works with children experiencing trauma, the consequences to be borne by the children sticks with me most in this chaos. Each child will have the testimony that they were born in prison, to an incarcerated mother, and an incarcerated father, except the father is actually also a mother. And oh yes, their sibling was born in prison as well. Worse yet, with both parents in prison there is a good chance one or both children will end up in foster care, and definitely therapy.
To be clear this isn’t an anti Trans statement, this is a statement about the consequences of asserting gender related policy purely based on feelings. I find it interesting that there are many stories of transgender women wanting to be housed in women’s prison, but I can’t find any of transgender men (female to male) wanting to be housed in men’s. I agree with protecting transgender men from being housed in men’s prisons but that is because I believe one cannot fully escape the objective realities of your gender of birth, and I desire to protect children from being produced out of these scenarios.
Criteria for a Trusted Source
“What is truth”? – Pilate, Bible
“Who do I trust? Me!” – Tony Montana, Scarface
My point in highlighting these stories is that subjective truth and misinformation have consequences. The idea that truth doesn’t matter is clearly a myth with dangerous implications. But how can you find truth today?
Everyone is an expert these days, especially when monetary incentives are involved. So it helps to ask questions of those advising you on what to do and how to feel.
1. Referee / Judge: A trusted source pledges to be neutral and is preferably outside of the system in which it is making a judgement. From leisure sports to court cases, the reasonable expectation is someone like a referee or judge is impartial. This implies to sources of news and guidance to the public.
2. Reputation/History of Objectivity: A trusted source is one that has a history of integrity, and fidelity to the truth whether it is displeasing to the hearer, or corrects where they have erred.
3. No Incentive for Favoritism: So much of misinformation stems from the benefits that come from a lie. Trusted sources have one incentive, the dissemination of truth.
4. Knowledge/ Credentials: With unprecedented access to information, too many believe they are one google search away from mastery of any topic. Formal credentials and/or relevant experience are still the gold standard for trusted sources of information.
Let’s summarize the criteria
1. Impartial and Preferentially External: “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” Acts 17.24-25
2. Honorable Reputation: “There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.” 1 Samuel 2.2
3. No Incentive for Favoritism: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish…” 2 Peter 3.9
4. Qualified with Appropriate Credentials: “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.” Psalm 139.4
Ultimately the most qualified trusted source is the almighty God of the Bible.
Many notice the Church which shares the same trusted source, still seems to be divided on truth. Whether the church elevates politics over the pulpit, cheap grace over hard truth, or charisma over character, the problem is still the same: the tail is wagging the dog. Through personal agendas, cherry picking, and emphasis of portions of the word, the created wants to decide good and evil for the creator they claim to follow.
The answer lies in the Church collectively getting back to the whole word to learn from the most trusted source there ever was. God asks that like Paul we preach (therefore read) the whole counsel of God. [Acts 20.27] This would help the Church to once again be seen as a moral leader, the light of the world, and a city on a hill in a society in desperate need of truth. [Matthew 5.24]
Lastly I leave Christians with this. You have the truth but you will never be God. The Hollywood ending and the totally figured out solution to every problem is an inherently Western cultural trait. The East is much more comfortable with mystery. And the Bible is an Eastern document. Humility says ‘I am certain of only God as truth and the Bible as his word.’
“Some things are meant to be mysteries of God. They cause us to wrestle with him, seek him, ask for help in understanding him … and that’s by design.”
Ciao for now.