Leave Aside Falsehoods

Some readers of my blog are probably aware my Sunday morning musings are usually a re-posting of my column which appears on the Friday religion page in the West Plains Daily Quill, my hometown newspaper. For those of you who typically read my column in the Quill, you might have noticed its absence this week. That was my fault. At some point on Friday, I realized what day it was and that I had missed the Thursday deadline.

Because I missed the paper, I'll use this opportunity to comment on an issue which is related to social media and the "interwebs." (That's a term our family sometimes uses because we collectively have an offbeat sense of humor which some of you might not expect if you only read my Facebook posts, which tend to be fairly serious in nature. If you're not familiar with it, you can look it up on Urban Dictionary. Not our sense of humor, the term interwebs.)

Nearly every time I log on to Facebook, I run across re-posts which are blatantly false. The vast majority are political in nature, but other topics are covered, too. There are at least three things I find fascinating (and frustrating, to say the least) about this phenomenon.

1. Fact checking is easily and quickly accomplished with several online tools. (Snopes.com being a good example.) Why post something which is a falsehood when it is easy to determine its veracity?
2. I believe most who post false information would not lie to someone face-to-face. Why lie on Facebook?
3. Many who are circulating rumors, falsehoods and mean-spirited observations will shortly be posting something which tells us how wonderful God is, often accompanied with a Bible verse. This one really leaves me shaking my head.

As the political season is upon us, and the vitriol is heating up, it will only get worse. I realize there are many of us who have differing opinions on many matters. That is understandable, and I know we have gone so far down the road of partisanship that unseating the opponent means more than progress, so there is little hope for actual civility.  However, I call on those who claim to follow the teachings of Jesus to:

1. Use some common sense, and check the facts.
2. Don't spread false information. Just stop. Okay?
3. Remember, whether or not you believe God is on your side in the opinions you express, I can tell you this: bearing false witness, strife, hatred and mean-spirited attacks are NOT in the guidebook for Christian living.
4. We all mess up, and sometimes, something which is not true might get through our "filters." If it happens you post something which is false, please have the courtesy to retract what you've said and admit you were wrong.

I will do my best to adhere to the these standards. Feel free to call me out if I ever miss the mark.

As we sort out what we believe and what is right and wrong, kindness and compassion are all-important in the process, whether in politics or anything else. Many will be disappointed with the outcome of the upcoming elections, no matter who is elected, but the key is to get over it, and get on with life without bitterness.

As scripture says, in the Book of Mark, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" As a nation, it is my hope we are not losing our soul in a political process which has adopted an "anything goes" attitude, as long as our favored candidate wins.