Posts Tagged ‘“fake news”’

Truth/untruth. God/not god

January 30, 2021

Mark 1:21-28

Epiphany 4 – 2021

Marian Free

May I speak in the name of God Earth-Maker, Pain- Bearer, Life-Giver. Amen.

During the week a candidate for the Liberal Party in Western Australia was asked to resign. Andrea Tokaji had written an article on a website suggesting that there might be a correlation between the roll out of 5G Towers and COVID -19. Ms Tojaki also claimed radiation destroys human immunity to airborne viruses, a theory that is not accepted by doctors and which has not been supported by credible scientific studies. Over the past four to six years truth has become a causality of ego and conspiracy. Phrases like ‘fake truth’ and ‘alternative truth’ have been uttered by world leaders and their spokespersons who present their own view of the world, current events and scientific research as ‘truth’ even in the face of evidence that clearly points in another direction.

The internet has given us access to a vast amount of information. With a few strokes of a keypad we can settle arguments about the capital of Uzbekistan, the life span of bilbies or the composition of the sun. Within seconds we can find references to topics that forty years ago would have taken hours of research to uncover. At the same time, the internet has also provided a platform for misinformation and conspiracy theories. It is easy, as we have seen, to promulgate wild fantasies such as that promoted by QAnon (a secret group of Satan-worshipping, cannabalistic, pedophiles is running a sex trafficking ring and that high ranking Democratic Party officials are among its members). Or, less wild, that there is a link between 5G and COVID.

That said, truth has always been something  of a slippery animal. Scientific research has not always been objective –  tobacco companies have funded research into the positive effects of smoking. Before the internet, charismatic leaders could convince their followers to believe their reality – even if it led to the deaths of millions of people. When there are no objective measures (like tickets) event organizers or protesters have always been able to  exaggerate the number of attendees in order  to inflate the success of their event.

Religions, even our own, are not immune from the tendency to find evidence to support a particular viewpoint; from the emergence of charismatic leaders who convince their followers to behave in ways they otherwise would not; or to present themselves as more successful than they are.

So where does that leave us? What is truth and how do we recognise it? More particularly, how in the context of something as ephemeral as faith, can we properly discern what is real, what is true?

There is not enough time, nor am I fully qualified to answer those questions but I believe that the gospel and the reading from Deuteronomy today challenge us to consider how we discern what is of God and what is not. In Deuteronomy God promises to raise up a prophet who will speak everything that God commands. God says: ‘Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.’ It is a serious threat – one that does not seem to have been heeded by Jesus’ contemporaries. Today’s gospel is about the recognition of one who speaks as God.

So how do we know who is speaking for God, who is speaking God’s truth?

As I said, I am no expert, but I suggest that in order to answer the question we have, at the very least,  to rid ourselves of our egos, our self-interest and of everything that ties us to the minutiae of our earthly existence. In other words, to truly hear and to truly recognize God, we have to silence all the competing voices that struggle to be heard. As Jesus himself suggests, we should not even worry about ‘what to wear and what to eat’. Like Jesus, we should not be overly concerned with our personal comfort and security. We should try not to worry about what other people think about us. For only if we let go of our own desires and fears will we learn to hear the distinction between authenticity and inauthenticity, will we be able to understand whether a speaker (or the internet) is feeding our own fears or offering practical information and we will be ready to listen critically to those who are making promises and to decide whether they are feeding their egos (or ours), and to question whether their ‘facts’ are supporting one, or another, agenda.

Doing all those things might help us to discern fact from fiction, but how do we know that someone is speaking on behalf of God – is God? Here, we are more fortunate than the scribes because generations before us have affirmed that Jesus is God. If we didn’t know that, where would we begin. Again, I can only make suggestions, but it seems to me that some clues are in today’s gospel. Even though Jesus apparently introduces new teaching, his listeners recognize that he speaks with ‘authority’. This is a phrase that is repeated at the beginning and the end of section making the exorcism secondary to the teaching.  Jesus is believable because he is authentic. He is not self-serving. He has nothing to gain and nothing to lose. He speaks the truth from God even when it brings him into conflict with the forces of evil and with the religious and secular powers. Jesus has no thought for his own security, let alone advancement. His ego was ceded to God during his time in the wilderness and now he is truly free of any temptation to seek power, riches or fame. Jesus is God and speaks for God because he has rid himself of anything that might separate himself from God.

Jesus has nothing to gain and nothing to lose. He does not need to persuade or to coerce people to follow him. He can extend an invitation and give people the freedom to accept or reject him. His teaching, healing and compassion are directed outwards. He has no ulterior motive. His desire is not for himself but for others and he refused to do those things that might have saved him from an ugly death. His authority comes from his integrity, his authenticity.

So how can we discern the truth? How can we recognise God in others?

In answer to the first we should seek to liberate ourselves from any self interest that might blind us to the truth.  And in response the second we can start by asking ourselves whether the speaker is self serving or selfless, whether they are following their own agenda or whether they have the interest of the whole community[1] (the whole world) at heart.

Discerning the truth, recognizing God in the world is our purpose and goal. It might be harder than we think, but that is no reason not to try.

[1] There is not time to look at the reading from Corinthians, but you will see that putting others before oneself is a value that Paul promotes.

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There are none so blind as those who will not see

March 25, 2017

Lent 4 – 2017

John 9:1-41

Marian Free

In the name of God who opens our eyes so we might know God. Amen.

By and large people believe what they want to believe – often despite evidence to the contrary. At least 10 years ago, Andrew Denton produced a documentary called: “God is on our side”. It was a report of a conference that is held annually in the Southern States of the USA. I found it all rather disconcerting. A major part of the gathering was the marketing of Christian artifacts books, pictures and movies a central theme of which was the “rapture” the belief that when Christ returns the dead who are to be raised, will join the living in a rapturous ascent to heaven, while everyone else is thrown into hell. Most frightening however, was the preacher who was addressing an auditorium filled with at something like 5-10,000 people and who proclaimed Cold War style that Russia intended to invade Israel. Those who attended were lapping up this out-dated and fear-inspiring version of the state of the world as if it were real. Books that supported the preacher’s argument were available for sale, reinforcing the “truth” of the matter. For those who accepted his authority, his reality became their reality.

Social media promised to make the facts more readily available to more people. It is increasingly evident that social media can be employed equally effectively to promote “fake” news. Many people who have no other source of information will believe what they are told, or what they read – especially if it is on the news, in the newspapers or spoken by someone in a position of authority.

As the old proverb goes: “There are none so blind as those that will not see.”

There are several layers of blindness in today’s gospel – the physical blindness of the man who is healed and the metaphorical blindness of almost every one else in the story. The disciples are blinded by tradition or folklore – physical deformity is evidence of sin. The man’s neighbours are blinded by the information that they currently have – the man whom they knew was blind – the man in front of them is not – he cannot be the same person. The Pharisees are blinded by their fear of change, and their desire for power. If people are allowed to believe that Jesus comes from God, their influence will be severely diminished. Finally, the parent’s of the once-blind man are blinded by the anxiety that if they claim to understand their son’s healing, they will be thrown out of the synagogue. Even the man born blind takes some time to fully comprehend the implications of receiving his sight.

The story of the man born blind takes a long circuitous route. He does not come to Jesus seeking to be healed. In fact it is only because the disciples ask Jesus about him that Jesus restores his sight. There is no suggestion that the man had faith, nor that his cure led to faith or caused others to believe. Not is there any suggestion that the man is surprised. He appears to take his newfound sight for granted. Those who knew him are surprised, so surprised in fact that they refuse to believe that it is the same man whom they knew as a beggar. The Pharisees on the other hand are threatened by Jesus’ power. They try to persuade the man that Jesus cannot possibly be from God implying that his power comes from elsewhere. Their antagonism has the opposite effect from that which they intended. Their assault on the once blind man and their disapproval of Jesus pushes the blind man to think about what has happened and to come to his own conclusion about Jesus – surely he is a prophet. In the face of such negativity, the man begins to understand the implications of his healing. It was not a random event but had a purpose and a meaning. Not only has the man received his physical sight, he is gaining insight and coming to faith.

When the Pharisees fail to intimidate the man, they take on his parents. Unlike the neighbours they recognise and own the man as their son, but they refuse to enter into any debate as to the person who healed him. To suggest that Jesus is from God would lead to their being thrown out of the synagogue. Finally the Pharisees attack the blind man one more time and when he refuses to give up what he has learned they throw him out of the synagogue. It is only then that Jesus seeks him out and reveals himself to him.

Over the course of the story, the man’s sight and his insight have been gradually sharpened. Despite opposition, he has held on to his sense of self, discerned the self-interest that led to the false teaching and the blindness of the Pharisees and has gradually discovered that Jesus the healer, is Jesus the prophet, is Jesus the Son of Man. He has learned the truth about Jesus because he was not bound by tradition, limited by what he thought he knew, not determined to maintain his place in the world and not imprisoned by the fear of what others might do to him. His openness to the truth gave him courage to hold his ground in the face of opposition and his willingness to learn brought him to faith. He has gained his sight in more ways than one.

As today’s gospel illustrates, God is patient. God will reveal the truth at a pace at which we are able to grasp it. God will give us courage to stand against those who would mislead and confuse us and will in time bring us to fullness of faith.

Lent is love. God’s story includes the timid, the questioning and those who come to believe one step at a time. No matter what holds us back – “fear or doubt or habit”[1] God will open our eyes and give us time and space to find our way to the truth and to take our place in the story that is without beginning or end.

 

 

[1] To quote hymn writer Elizabeth Smith.

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