We should all condemn fake news and disinformation, across all isles and all sides of “The Great Divide”. We know it has happened and we know it is happening now. Fake news is happening across all networks, left, right, center, it doesn’t matter (The Great Divide). The problem, I believe, lies in the obstruction and destruction of too many opinion pieces in media, which is much more prevalent than standard news reporting. Too many of us are allowing the media to influence our social behaviors and social and cultural opinions rather than forming behaviors and opinions of your own – a belief system solely based on a balance of media with your spiritual or philosophical belief systems. How many of us share, or comment on, social media memes and stories without determining whether the story or quote is accurate or not? How many of us are adding to the aggravation, the stress, the anxiety, the pain; without consideration to those that we should be convincing.
Instead we blindly post, comment, or share, as the misleading and misinformed public becomes further frustrated with the great divide. We blindly follow because we want our side of The Great Divide to win the grand debate. Winning an argument has become more important than the truth.
A godly man, a Kingdom Man, should have the courage and fortitude to NOT add to the great divide, but come up with words that pull the divide back together, fill the seam, or fill the gap. It is EASY to cave in to the anger, bitterness, and derision, it’s HARD to bring peace to the storm, to unite those divided, to save those that are lost; but it’s also easy because it’s easy to do what you’re told, but in this case I am referring to what God is telling us, not the media or political pundits. This is what a man of God is expected to do, what he needs to do. We are to bring honor and glory to the Father who saved us, not participate in negative and ugly arguments that do nothing to bring Heaven to earth.
We should all work together to conquer the “hysteria” that is gripping our nation via both local and national politics and strike down the deceit wherever it is. Blame does not have to be placed on a side of the Great Divide, it should be placed squarely on the way the media is working and the way the internet is being used to erode trust in our nation and across our institutions by fostering fear in our elections which do nothing but wreak havoc on our infrastructure and American culture.
Facebook did what they did because this was the demand placed on them – as did Twitter -, it was even joked about during the entire election process of 2020. Our modern digital ecosystem has enabled misinformation to run rampant because American attention spans are short and false news stories run circles around the major news outlets. How else are the major news outlets going to compete with social media but to exploit what, it appears, Americans want. Drama, intrigue, fear, and something to complain about. We want to place blame and these news stories do that with little regard to the truth or even worse, little regard to what is really important. These issues are blocking the internal views of ourselves and our own behaviors – dramatically impacting the way we, as individuals, think and believe. It is unfortunately ugly but the truth is to be discovered in us, not in what the media is portraying. The media, and social media, is giving us what many want for some ungodly reason – drama, intrigue, conspiracy, hate, destruction, violence, and juvenile tirades. Really?
As a nation, we should work to overcome our fears and stop sniping at each other, stop the trolling and the mean-spirited partisanship that some of our political leaders, and almost all media outlets are showing incessantly (across all networks). Regardless of ones viewpoints I have faith, that everyone is tired of the divisiveness, the injustices, and the out right hatred that many of us are witnessing. Is this how we want our country to be? Is this the legacy we want to leave for our descendants? How do you/we want to be remembered? How about a nation that that is capable of operating with opposing viewpoints, different philosophical belief systems, and different motivations? The human race is an imperfect species and it is highly unlikely that we will achieve utopia, but we can stop sniping and baiting each other with misinformation. It starts with one person, followed by one more, followed by another.
Yes, we should stand up for our views and stand up for what we feel is right, but also acknowledge that ones views have an opposing viewpoint and what one feels is an injustice, another feels is prudent and right. We should strive for facts to back up our thoughts and opinions, not conjecture or assumptions. Facts can be both a horrible and a wonderful thing – but we should serve to back up our views with facts and WITHOUT personal attacks and hyperbole; we should not want to create a line that we then dare one to cross it. This serves no end.
Have courage to take a stand and not participate in The Great Divide. Don’t fall for it. Stop asking “What would Jesus do?”. We need to be looking at the example Jesus set for us and ask, “What Did Jesus Do?”
Oh, by the way, if you haven’t picked up a copy of my Award Winning book for best Memoir of 2020, “My Personal Desert Storm: Eating Crow and Humble Pie”, you can pick up a copy on Amazon HERE (Click).
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