I never used to be very interested in politics, but since the alt. right is promoting the lie that Trump is Christian and that his policies are Christian, I feel I have to jump in, now and then, and defend the faith. Trumpian values are the opposite of Biblical values.
I know it must be very satisfying for religious folk to imagine that our country is finally being run by a God Fearing, Bible believing Christian instead of those Godless commie liberals, but it is all a sham. Donald Trump claims to be Christian, but the church to which he says he belongs has never seen him in the five short years he has claimed membership with them. It looks very much as if Trump joined the Christian club in a cynical effort to coerce religious people to vote for him.
Why aren't Christian Trump supporters more invested in Truth? Most of them seem to just believe whatever Trump, Fox News commentators, and various "religious" outlets say about him, and the messaging is cohesive from all those sources. (Sometimes, Trump lies about things he himself has said on video previously and which can be verified, and STILL his supporters refuse to acknowledge the lie. It drives me nuts.)
Meanwhile, legitimate journalists provide reams of proof, in video and in writing, consistently presenting the actual facts, but Trumpists don't typically read anything that doesn't have a positive slant on Trump. (Personally, I read everything and then fact check all of it.)
Most concerning at the present time is Trump's insistence on bleating out fantasies that contradict everything our intelligence agencies are saying, and then criticizing those agencies in his infernal tweets, in a blatant effort to get his base to avoid any information that will reveal the truth.
As time goes on, and Trump's enemies list grows, his slanderous statements find targets in all the agencies upon which Americans have, until now, depended for the administration of justice. His vulgar taunts are leveled at judges, senators and even the wives and children of people he hates.
If I were to list all the dangerous, repulsive, treasonous, NON-Christian activities and statements that Trump is making on a daily basis, I would have to write a book, rather than a blog. All I can do is plead with people to please, for God's sake, PLEASE, do some actual research, and stop mouthing the slogans and fake stories invented by the Alt Right for the purpose of inflaming its base. Don't be a tool in the hands of anyone else.
With regard to researching factual matters, the most important thing to do is evaluate one's sources. Opinion is not news. This blog is not news. Why? "News" is the presentation of facts. Who, what, when and where are factual. "Why" is not factual. It is commentary. While some commentary is often necessary to put facts into context, the "why" of a thing must not be presented as factual without specific proof of causality. Proving causality is no simple matter.
One of the classical fallacies of logic (which, apparently, is not widely taught in American schools) is "post hoc ergo propter hoc." The translation is something like "before, therefore because of." The meaning is this: Just because something happened just prior to another thing does not mean that the first thing caused the second. In its more ridiculous form, it would appear thus: "I ate a banana for the first time this morning, and this afternoon I had my first auto accident, therefore bananas cause auto accidents."
One of the classical fallacies of logic (which, apparently, is not widely taught in American schools) is "post hoc ergo propter hoc." The translation is something like "before, therefore because of." The meaning is this: Just because something happened just prior to another thing does not mean that the first thing caused the second. In its more ridiculous form, it would appear thus: "I ate a banana for the first time this morning, and this afternoon I had my first auto accident, therefore bananas cause auto accidents."
Everyone's opinion should be based in fact and truth. If it is based on anything else, you are standing on shifting sand, and anyone interested in the Truth is not going to give you any credibility at all.
Things to keep in mind:
1. Anecdotal stories are not proof of larger statistical issues. If you knew one disabled person that you suspected of cheating the government, that does not mean that a lot of people cheat the government. If you read a story about an "illegal alien" committing a crime, it doesn't mean that illegal aliens commit crimes to a greater degree than American citizens. As a matter of fact, it has been proven, over and over again, that undocumented folks commit appreciably fewer crimes than citizens! (Don't believe me. Check it!)
2. "News" programs produced by religious or philosophical or political groups are biased in nature, do not adhere to accepted journalistic standards, have no oversight and are explicitly partisan. Watch them all you want, but think of them as entertainment rather than purveyors of fact. They should be honest, but frequently aren't, skewing the "news" to suit philosophical wishful thinking. EWTN, CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network), Church Militant, Lifesite News, The Heritage Foundation, and other organizations that exist to support and promote a particular point of view are included in this category of biased programming and writing.
If you are really concerned about "fake news" - stick to the actual news, rather than a political, religious or philosophical organization.
Just because a television program expresses opinions that reflect your own does not mean that those opinions are based in fact. You're just listening to yourself talk.
3. News outlets that hold to traditional journalistic standards are generally the most reliable. Usually, these outlets require that facts have more than one corroborating witness. This isn't to say they are perfect. Nothing is perfect, and mistakes are made by everyone, but generally speaking, these outlets are reliable, since they specifically intend to present the truth, as opposed to outlets that intend to present a philosophy. The Atlantic Magazine, CNN, The New York Times, and other reputable journalistic endeavors that I will list below, can usually be relied upon to tell the truth. To be clear, I am talking about the facts they present. I am not saying that commentary needs to be believed, except insofar as that commentary is built on truth.
Identify the relevant facts in every article, analyze the source(s) and fact check the claims on Politifact, Snopes.com, or Factcheck.org. Reuters is also a great source. For the longest time, news agencies got their news, initially, from Reuters. Reuters does not do "commentary."
4. Compare journalistic outlets to one another to assess the truth. I include Fox News in my collection of news sources, but I often find that its "news" disagrees with all the other outlets, and I dismiss them as a result. Here is why: It is irresponsible and illogical to think that hundreds of thousands of people involved in all the other news outlets are somehow in cahoots to tell lies and present a false narrative. The philosophy behind "Akim's razor" holds true here. The simplest explanation is usually the "right" one.
Another way of looking at this is with the saying that "when you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras. Conspiracy theories are fascinating zebras and are titillating to imagine might be true, but rarely rarely are.
5. The further away from primary sources, the less reliable the information. If I read an article in some tiny little "newspaper" or blog that has an "anonymous" source, but that anonymous source is not pinpointed as a member of a group that has first-hand information, I ignore it. For example, if an article references a source "that works in the Justice Department," I will give it more credibility than a source that is just "anonymous."
6. Fact check your sources. If you read an article that seems a bit too inflammatory, check it with politifact, snopes.com, factcheck.org and/or Reuters to make sure that the writer is not just trying to get more internet 'clicks.'
Here is a list of news purveyors I read or watch daily:
- Network news programs: ABC, NBC, CBS
- The Atlantic Magazine (Published for more than 164 years)
- New York Times
- L. A. Times
- Albuquerque Journal
- Washington Post
- USA Today
- Huffington Post
- The Guardian
- PBS:
- Democracy Now
- BBC World News America
- Amanpour & Company
- PBS News Hour
- New Mexico in Focus
- To the Contrary
- Nightly Business Report
- Washington Week
- Report from Santa Fe
- Firing Line
- The Open Mind
- Focus on Europe
- Rachel Maddow
- Face the Nation
- CNN News
- The New Yorker Magazine
- EWTN
- Fox News
- Keith Olberman
- MSNBC
There are more, but I can't recall them right now. Remember to add:
FACT CHECKING SITES:
- Snopes.com
- Factcheck.org
- Reuters
- Politifact
Don't take my word for anything. Research for yourself. I feel confident that, once everyone is educated on the facts, we will all be closer in opinions than we are currently.
God bless us all
Silver "Rose"
Dear Silver Rose,
ReplyDeleteWhat you did here is so important for all of us, young and others that are educated, because we all need to compare the info. ALthough I knew about fact checks I had not known the exact web addreses, it is a bit of work typing all that and I so appreciate the effort you take, it makes me work harder seeing you doing it, thanks so much, good examples are so hard to find and they do help us focus and find our path for each day.
Thank you, Iris! My primary objective to point toward Truth. Many people shield themselves from Truth, preferring, instead, to adhere to a partisan purveyor of philosophy that misrepresents reality in order to gain the support of a certain demographic.
ReplyDeleteThe underlying reason I have started commenting on this topic at all is because some Christians have started to falsely claim that Trump is doing God's work when, in actuality, all his policies are directly OPPOSITE to what Christ teaches.
Can you imagine what Christ would say to the fact that there are thousands of children that were ripped out of the arms of their parents, incarcerated in thinly disguised concentration camps where they had to sleep on cement floors, and then dispersed into American society to disappear - with limited or no ability to find them and reunite them with their parents? There are at least 2,000 of these poor children being traumatized in this way. Apparently, "Christians" think it is OK to do this to people fleeing violence in other countries. Can you imagine what Jesus would say to THAT?
Our Jesus, who said to sell what we have and give it to the poor in order to follow him, would not condone enriching the wealthy while taking food and shelter from the poor, as this current crop of Republicans consistently does.
My sense of justice and fairness has been assaulted, with great regularity, as has been my devotion to Truth, since Trump came on the scene. I don't blame him for starting all this nonsense. The people who support him were, for the most part, already like this before they ever heard of him.
I encourage everyone to do their best to ferret out Truth from this pile of garbage. It's not an easy job, now that so many people are intent on covering over the truth with a mass of flowers. We all must do the best we can.
I, for one, am grateful that our presidents are not elected "for life." (You can imagine my horror when I heard Trump say that being president for life would be a good thing!)
Take care of yourself, my friend. Do the best you can, and lay yourself at the feet of Christ.
God bless,
Silver Rose