Truth Reprised
“The Court by Pilate (First Interview)” by James Tissot, Source: http://faithofthefathers.blogspot.ru/2013/03/some-good-friday-art-by-james-tissot.html (PD-Art; PD-old-100)
“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.”
– 1984, George Orwell
To a large extent, we are what we know. Our beliefs are based on that knowledge, our actions based on those beliefs.
But what if our knowledge is not as accurate as we suppose? What if our “facts” are wrong and our assumptions false? If we hand the responsibility for truth off to someone else – anyone else – we run the risk that truth has been compromised.
Bias in the News
Consider where we get our news of the world. The majority of Americans rely on television as their primary news source, followed by the internet [1].
Approximately 60% of Fox News viewers describe themselves as conservative [2]. Compare this with the 36% of MSNBC viewers who describe themselves as liberal. MSNBC actually positioned itself as the liberal version of Fox, in an effort to boost ratings [3].
Fox News trumpets the mottos “Fair & Balanced” and “We Report, You Decide”. Fully 85% of MSNBC programming content is “opinion”, while only 14% qualifies as hard news [4].
However, by the end of the 2012 campaign, Pres. Barack Obama was receiving 46% negative coverage from Fox, with only 6% positive. Of course, Mitt Romney was receiving 71% negative press from MSNBC, with only 3% positive.
Inaccuracy Online
As for the internet, according to the WikiAnswers Community, 55% of the information there is false [5].
Unfortunately, today’s students rely increasingly on the internet for information. Literacy and writing skills have been impacted, as have interpersonal skills. Plagiarism is no longer recognized as an offense. Students freely click, copy, and paste without real analysis on their part.
Truth at Risk
But truth is at risk when no longer retained in memory or verified by reliable, independent sources.
While on trial, Christ was asked by Pilate, “What is truth?” The Roman governor did not wait for a reply.
“ ‘For this reason I was born and have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice’ ” (John 18: 37).
Lord, we come before You to pray, once again, for our nation and our world.
The news grieves us. Everywhere we turn, we find injustice, corruption, and lies. In every direction, there is senseless killing and violence. The voices of reason, of peace and moderation, are drowned out.
We have lost our way, Lord, forgotten that You are the way, the truth, and the life.
Yet, with darkness descending, good men and women strive on, in the hope of making a better world. Let us be counted in their number. Help us to keep faith and bear witness to the truth.
In You alone is our Salvation, Lord. Strengthen our resolve. Deepen our love, for You and one another, as these times grow more grave.
Amen
Please, pray for the latest victims of terrorism in France, and their families.
READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse https://avoicereclaimed.com
A Lawyer's Prayers 
Wonderful article Anna. As I was reading this, I was reminded of the Two Greatest Commandments, loving God, and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
Thank you, Nicodemas. Yes, if we all remembered those two commandments, the world would be a different place.
Amen.
I can remember reading ‘1984’ by George Orwell Anna! Very depressing but powerful. I also love the painting portraying Jesus and Pilate the humility of Christ and His wonderful words of those who listen to truth know Him. We know things are getting from bad to worse, we see it daily Anna, we experience it time and time again and I say Amen to your prayer. We know there is a remnent of truth followers of Christ and I only hope is in Him. Thanks for this writing Anna ….. jacky x
Thanks for all your support, Jacky. In these difficult times especially I feel Christians must reach out to one another.
James Tissot was an excellent choice of artwork.. I created a video for you tube “Calvary’s Cry” using his beautiful paintings. God Bless You
Oh, I’ll have to check that out! I always enjoy finding the art work to accompany a post. 🙂
I found them at Wikimedia commons.. Bible art by James Tissot.
Thanks for the tip!
Amen.
As always, a wonderful post, Anna–well thought, well written, full of truth. I’ll just comment on one item, plagiarism–that, as you point out, it’s no longer recognized as an offense. Yes, I have such an issue with this! I know of a Christian blogger who writes books and publishes–he happily states that he “stole” this or that from his favorite authors; I was appalled, and his defense was that “everyone does it”. That doesn’t make it right. And, NOT “everyone” does it–I would never do that; if I “stole” ideas from other writers–and achieved success (popular or financial), I’d forever wonder which parts of my book people really loved: my original thoughts, or the pilfered ones… Oh well. God bless you Anna, always.
Thank you for the compliment, Shadeau. I fear standards have slipped so far that even Christians cannot always tell right from wrong. May God bless and protect you. ❤
True words, Anna. Thanks for the lovely blessing ❤ It means a lot 🙂
Great post, I prefer to get my news from Christian alternative sources.. I feel the mass media paints a false picture, especially when it relates to Israel.. this is why you have masses boycotting Israeli products, bias media.. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the compliment. It is nearly impossible to find “objective” news anymore. Maybe the bias just wasn’t as obvious in the past.
Amen… bless you, Anna ❤
💜 Jackie@KWH
Truth is truly at risk and the lies have been
percolating since forEVER…
Bless you, too, Jackie. ❤