Brainwashed

So-called "fake news" made the headlines with then-candidate Trump's criticism of media bias in 2016 (If you do not think there has been a largely one-sided bias in the media for quite some time, you may want to stop reading now).   Following the election, "the other side" began claiming that it was fake news that cost them the election.  What's more, there really are "fake news" sites out there that present either intentionally misleading information, or simply downright false narratives.  the presentation of false narratives or intentionally misleading information is far more widespread than we might think.  In fact, it is the rule, rather than the exception, on both sides of the current political debate.  Why?  Because it helps further a pre-set agenda that often ignores reality and any semblance of absolute truth in life as a whole.

The problem is not so much the actual false storylines that sometimes are presented as fact, or even the intentionally misleading narratives that rule the day.  No, it is that people believe them without fact checking (yes, even many of the so-called "fact checkers" themselves need to be fact-checked).  In other words, the media AND the government are indoctrinating the masses in telling them what to believe.  This indoctrination is done to selfishly gain what the individual or group is attempting to accomplish, no matter how noble or misguided that accomplishment might be.  In other words, society is being largely brainwashed today, and has been for quite some time.  In an age where it seems we trust no one, it is awfully strange that we trust the media to tell us the truth, when most often what we get from them is far from it.

As but one example, I would defer back to an earlier blog entry on a false quote from one of the founding fathers being quoted as factual today.  Not only is it intentionally deceptive in supporting a false narrative, but no one has really bothered to fact check it to see if Thomas Jefferson actually said what it was claimed he said.  (spoiler alert:  I did, and he did NOT in fact say it at all, and yet the quote is used to support a false narrative on separation of church and state all the time).  I am reminded of the Jedi mind control trick used by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars movie, where the stormtooper repeats back to him "these aren't the droids we're looking for..."  Yes, it really is that bad:  people often believe contradictory things, usually contradicted by reality itself, and yet we persist in trusting that those entrusted to report the truth are actually doing so!  The net result is a mimicry of talking points and social media memes that are usually untrue, and at the very least, distort the truth into something it is not.

Now today many claim that religion in general (and Christianity specifically) is just another form of brainwashing.  Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to my faith in Christ.  While ultimately one cannot "prove" the existence of God, yet by a preponderance of the evidence, it is clear that God exists.  Yet don't take my word for it:  Read the Scriptures yourself and test it all to see.  The Lutheran Reformation was about just that, among other things:  getting the written account of the "Divine drama" into the hands of everyone so they were not believing simply because they were told to, but because they could read it for themselves, test it, and believe independently.  The recent book-turned-movie, "The Case For Christ," demonstrates just that.  While no one can ultimately prove it to be true, the preponderance of the evidence heavily weighs in favor of it all being true.  Now the difference between the Christian faith and every other religion on the face of the earth (and there are some pretty major and fundamental differences which sets the Christian faith alone among world religions) are also worth independently studying and verifying, but that is a topic for another day.

So back to the brainwashing of society in general.  What is the end result?  It is the extreme polarization of society, and the civil war mentality that now exists.  It is the confusion of what has widely been held as the distinction between good and evil for thousands of years within society.  That there are people who believe murder to be an acceptable solution to issues or problems (be it to attack police or just people at random) shows just how far down the rabbit hole of moral depravity we've gone.

The relativism of truth is also a victim.  There are no longer any absolutes, simply because of the false and misleading information that seeks to minimize the concept of any sort of absolute truth  It is this confusion of good and evil, along with the complete and total loss of absolute truth that hits at the heart of this nation's problems currently.

It could all be reversed in a matter of moments.  How?  By independently fact checking everything, and calling foul whenever someone either shares a false narrative or presents it as truth.  Stop the spin.  Stop the lies.  Stop the brainwashing.  More importantly, it is time that the American society speak with one voice and say that we are no longer going to tolerate the lies and deception that is brainwashing us.  And let us use our brains to ensure that we are not mere sheep, following helplessly as we are led to the slaughter eventually.  These are my thoughts as I watch the perpetuation of "fake news" all over TV Land.