does truth matter?

Our country is currently going through a very strange time. We're still in the midst of a pandemic, something that the majority of us haven't witnessed in our lifetimes. But now we also have even more on our minds. Racial injustice. Police brutality. Protests. Riots. The defunding of police. So many things are going on and its giving a lot of people so much anxiety, myself included. It seems as though evil is taking over our country and we are losing control. But is that really true- at least to the extent that social media and the news makes it seem?

During times like this, it is very important to form your own opinions about things and to base those opinions on facts. So many people rely on their feelings when they’re making decisions and choosing what they are going to believe in and stand for. Your feelings and emotions are great things, but when you begin to ignore facts that clearly state something completely different than what you are believing and telling people, you are giving your feelings more control over your mind than they should have. You may feel one way, but if the facts show something different, you are not only lying to yourself, but you are also lying to those around you, which is not at all the loving or right thing to do. 

The news and the media are businesses, which means their main goal is to make money. And what brings in the most money? Stories that appeal to your emotions. The same things that sell well when it comes to movies and books sell well when it comes to news stories, and the reporters know that. They’ll do whatever they can to create articles that appeal to our emotions, and usually to our negative emotions like sadness, anger, and nervousness because, sadly, good and wholesome news becomes boring after a while. I mean, have you really ever seen good news in the news? It’s mostly bad news, scary news, things that make President Trump look awful, or things that make it seem as though America is corrupted. 

But in doing this, the media tends to lie. Sometimes it’s just a small lie where they just leave out a detail, but other times they literally change the information to whatever it is they want it to say. The media is very good at taking things way out of context, and at taking what someone said and lying about their meaning and intentions. When Christians say that abortion is wrong and should be considered murder, the media takes that further, claiming that Christians don’t care about women or their rights as American citizens. When conservatives say that illegal immigration should be just that, illegal, the media reports that all conservatives are racist and against any immigrants entering our country. If people would listen to what is actually being said in context instead of what the media is saying about what is being said, I think they would realize that saying that abortion is wrong is not the equivalent to saying that women shouldn’t have rights. They’d also realize that when conservatives say they’re against illegal immigration, it doesn’t automatically mean they’re racist and against all immigration, they're just against breaking the laws that our country has. 

The media has always been part of liberal politics- only choosing to write stories that go along with the liberal narrative or make conservatives look bad; never the stories that reveal the facts or the good that Trump has done for the country. But why does it always have to be this way? Why can’t we simply look at an issue, and form our own opinion on it, not caring about whether that opinion leans more right or left on the political spectrum? We need to start forming our own opinions, not based on the opinions of others or what is deemed “correct” by our political party, or by society and the media’s standards, but by what is deemed good and right in the eyes of God and His Word. That is the only Truth that matters, and until He is the foundation of the lives of more Americans, there will always be this divide of good versus evil that we are seeing so evidently right now. If the future generations aren’t taught about Jesus, how to respect themselves and others, taking responsibility for their actions, and knowing the difference between good and evil, this world is only going to go downhill until Jesus Himself returns to save us. 

So, I encourage you to do your own research instead of believing every word that Fox, CNN or whatever news channel you watch says, because odds are, they’re biased in one way or another. Look up the facts for yourself, especially in an election year like this one, because the news and media are going to be especially biased so that you will vote for their candidate and think the way they want you to think. If you simply look into things yourself and make your own opinions, I can almost guarantee that you will come to a very different conclusion than you would by listening to the media. Don’t let the opinions of other people form your own opinion. Compare the facts of what Donald Trump has done in his time as President to the facts of what Joe Biden has done during his political career, and form your opinion by analyzing what both have done for this country during their time in politics. And most importantly, base those opinions on the Word of God because it is the most important Truth out there. It should be the foundation on which you build your life, political opinions and presidential elections included. 

With Love,