Fake News
Politics in general is definitely not high on my list of interests, especially US politics. But for the past few years, I have noticed a very consistent trend in news stories that make headlines. The media constantly highlighted anything negative associated with President Donald Trump. I still didn’t care too much but there was one thing that kindled my interest. What is this thing Mr President keeps referring to as “fake news”? And so I decided to take a quick glimpse into it.
Two incidents happened to occur at about the time I did my little investigation. The first was regarding an African-American actor by the name of Jussie Smollett who claimed that he was attacked in a hate crime by Caucasian MAGA-hat-wearing males (apparently Trump supporters) past midnight in downtown Chicago. Haters of Trump quickly blasted him for creating this atmosphere of animosity. It didn’t take too long for the truth to come out that it was actually two African brothers hired by the actor himself to commit the hoax hate crime.
Only about a week later, the media was at it again with another headline story involving the MAGA hat. They showed a short video clip of high school student, Nick Sandman, wearing the taboo hat with a smirk while a Native American elderly man is chanting and drumming right in his face. The news outlets quickly condemned Nick and his schoolmates for disrespect and of course President Trump for inciting hate. Some high profile individuals wasted no time in unleashing furious tweets towards the kids resulting in them receiving multiple death threats.
When the full video footage of the incident surfaced, it appeared that there was another group hurling abuses and making bigoted comments towards the high school boys who were not too interested to respond. And the Native American man decided to start beating his drum right in the young man’s face so he decided to stand his ground without being obnoxious. The media outlets have again failed to be professional and prematurely came out with a very biased story causing much damage to people and to the truth.
As the wise man said in Ecclesiastes, “there is nothing new under the sun.” There has been plenty of “fake news” throughout history, especially in regards to God.
Jesus revealed in John 8:44 that Satan is the father of lies. If there was anyone good at making up fake news, it’s him: “God gets irrationally angry, God despises sinners, God is impersonal, God has no qualms killing off people” were some of the lies that have been circulating. I must admit that I bought into some of those lies even while growing up surrounded by people of faith.
But, sure enough, the Truth eventually came down to us. If we had any doubts about God’s character, Jesus dispelled them all. In the face of death, being wrongly accused, He showed grace to those who despised Him.
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”(Luke 23:34).
That’s who He really is. That’s His true colour. In John 14:9, Jesus was clear that anyone who has seen Him has seen the Father. Everyone who came in touch with Jesus was able to see who God really is.
I am currently reading Agape: A Revelation of the Father’s Character of Loveby Adrian Ebens. So far the book has beautifully walked through how our perception of God have been much distorted and helped me to see a supremely loving God even in the Old Testament.
“We see the actions of Jesus act as a mirror to reveal what is in the hearts of those around Him.”
My perception was clouded by the evil and negativity that was in my very own heart.
There is high likelihood that you might have been deceived by the fake news that the Father of Lies has spread regarding our Father. But God invites us to “taste and see that the LORD is good” (Psalm 34:8). I have given myself a chance to look into the Truth and can testify that the Truth has truly set me free and I have tasted that the LORD is indeed awesome! As for the mainstream media, we will have to be very weary of the agendas behind their news stories before coming to conclusions.
