As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Today the Soviet Union is gone but newspeak and a thousand forms of disinformation thrive. I can do frontline reporting … and a reader will email to say I didn’t see what I saw because it doesn’t conform to a political narrative. She and the rest of us can fall prey to platform algorithms and manipulated content disgorged from a news cycle that never sleeps.
“More Americans now say that news organizations are gaining influence than say their influence is waning, a stark contrast to just one year ago when the reverse was true.” - Pew
“Overall, a majority of Americans consider seven of these outlets to be part of the mainstream media.
“The cable-news host has misinterpreted data to support a dangerous strain of vaccine skepticism.” - National Review
I spend at least 40 hours a week working for a non-profit devoted to improving policing—mostly in the U.S. I’m also a former pastor of 13 years and a seminary graduate. That mix shapes how I look at the recently re-ignited controversies surrounding U.S. policing and leads me to four observations.
The Christian worldview recognizes some realities of human nature and society.
“…our civic life has become consumed by soundbites and Twitter feeds. Even those outlets that are supposed to be providing substance do not. Despite appearances, Fox News and MSNBC have much in common.” - TGC
“When it was originally published Tuesday, the article asserted that ‘it’s not possible to know a person’s gender identity at birth, and there is no consensus criteria for assigning sex at birth.’” - CPost
“…avoid the hot take. Christians especially should be slow to speak. People are complicated. Explanations that focus only on external factors of race, gender, ethnicity, or legal requirements may miss the motivations that animate individual human beings…. ‘out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.’” - WORLD
“we also need to remember that every headline is a sales pitch, crafted to grab our attention, accrue clicks, and make money. Media companies profit from our addiction to doomscrolling. They’re motivated to keep us doing it—drawing us constantly from one horrific headline to the next.” - TGC
“Humans tend to have an anchoring bias, a cognitive bias that causes us to rely too heavily on the first piece of information we are given about a topic. It’s a tendency highlighted in Proverbs 18:17: ‘The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.’” - TGC
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