When attempting to discuss current affairs with someone, have you ever got the feeling that they live in an alternate reality, fully furnished with alternate facts? Ever since the internet and social media have permeated every home, we’ve been able to customise information intake to individual preferences. Consuming news and information can become less about information and more about affirmation, as Trevin Wax writes:
It’s about affirming what we already believe [and really want] to be true. And the ‘everywhere at all times available’ culture created by our smartphones gives us regular doses of news that tells us ‘You are right.’
This results in what the Associated Press calls “intellectual ghettos” and Ed Stetzer “media silos”.[1] We close off competing sources that don’t affirm our existing views, we choose our team. Eventually these differing silos can become so opposed in their views, to the point of having a different basic understanding of reality. This makes it incredibly difficult to engage issues and find ways forward in discussion.
In this age of misinformation, disinformation, fake news, satire, and artificial intelligence, many have reached a point where, like Pilate, they ask incredulously “What is truth?” (Jn 18:38). Those who reach this point include even Christians, those who follow the One who is the Truth (Jn 14:6). What can be done to counter the (dis)information overload? Please consider three suggestions to bridge the growing chasm of realities as we interact with information and media.
Be Biblically Sceptical
Being sceptical is not synonymous with being cynical. Cynicism is a stance of chronic suspicion, not trusting anyone. Being sceptical is merely withholding an inference until more data is obtained and verified. Scepticism is foundational to critical thinking and has biblical justification. We should be biblically sceptical. Christians are not cynical, because we acknowledge God and his word is infallibly truthful (Jn 17:17). And yet Christians are sceptical, because God and his word alone are infallibly truthful, and therefore everything else (including our own reason and intuition) should be viewed with a healthy degree of scepticism (Acts 17:11; Rom 12:2).
As an example of the need for biblical scepticism, a social media post recently resurfaced quoting the Lord’s Prayer, followed by a caption warning:
After hearing Mark Zuckerberg say that posting the Lord’s Prayer violates their policies, I ask all Christians to follow my lead and post the Lord’s prayer.
The problem is that it just wasn’t true. A brief search is all that was needed to reveal this. Verifying the claim of this dubious post prevents contributing to the transmission of yet another falsehood. In the article quoted above, Trevin Wax laments that too many Christians have become
[Sceptics]toward establishment type media outlets, and gullible toward other websites or toward political spinmeisters who already line up with their preexisting beliefs or worldview.
A lack of biblical scepticism also erodes the reputation of Christian integrity and discernment in the eyes of the world. So next time that uncle of yours urges you to repost a breaking article from NASA confirming the earth really is flat after all, take a few well-spent seconds to practise biblical scepticism and seek verification. The credibility of the gospel is worth the effort.
Rein in the Social Media
In The Wisdom Pyramid, Brett McCracken offers valuable advice to believers feeling overwhelmed with the vast information landscape of the twenty-first century. McCracken observes there is
more data; less clarity. More stimulation; less synthesis. More distraction; less stillness. More speaking; less listening. More to look at; less to see. More amusements; less joy.
Never before have people been so globally connected, yet perhaps never before has there been such an epidemic of loneliness. Never before has there been access to so much knowledge, yet with it has come enormous confusion about what is actually true.
McCracken takes the analogy of the food pyramid to give believers guidance on wading through the deluge of daily input. At the base of his pyramid is the Bible. This component of our wisdom diet can (and should) be consumed liberally. At the top of the wisdom pyramid is the internet and then social media at the pointy end—only moderate consumption is recommended. The trouble is most live this paradigm perpetually upside-down. Many Christians gorge the internet and social media on a daily basis, while only occasionally snacking on the word of God. This must change.
Expose Yourself to Alternate Views
It’s okay to have your views challenged by those with whom you vehemently disagree. It’s helpful, even. At the very least, it may test and reaffirm your existing views. It could actually help you to see a perspective you were blind to. Be cautious of throwing out news sources merely because you disagree with them in some way. Christian journalist Sarah Bailey laments the fact that, especially since 2016, many Christians dismiss mainstream media as “Satan’s newspaper,” or “fake news”. While she sympathises with some of the frustrations, she emphasises that it is not reasonable to replace sources, even biased ones, that have accountability, checks, and balances with those that lack any whatsoever.
Likewise, Robert Vischer, president of the University of St. Thomas, wrote an article in 2020 about Christians refusing to diversify their information intake, potentially leading them to “strange places” mentally, more willing to embrace views that were once considered outlandish and fringe. He urges Christians to avoid the outright dismissal of mainstream media sources:
Do many media organisations exhibit a liberal bias? Yes, but there is a difference between bias and an intent to promulgate lies instead of facts.
The modern plague of misinformation and disinformation truly affects everyone. These steps may not solve all social dissonance, but are surely a step in the right direction. The truth is at stake. Our integrity as people of truth is at stake. The reputation of the gospel is at stake.
[1] Christians in the Age of Outrage: How to Bring Our Best When the World Is at Its Worst (Tyndale Momentum: 2018).
