Don't Believe Everything You See

There is an old agade that says, "speed kills;" and that certainly applies when excessive speed is applied behind the wheel, unless you're like a NASCAR driver.  But, swiftness of speech can be
harmful as well. Listen to what Proverbs 20 says:
20 Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

And, just for good measure, later in the chapter, we read:
22 An angry man stirs up strife, And a furious man abounds in transgression.
23 A man's pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor.

So, when we consider our words, we should be asking, I think, whether we are speaking quickly, in a reactive fashion, stirring up strife, and acting with pride.  God has given us the ability to communicate, but if we misuse that and drift off into bitter and harmful words that are not grounded in His truth, then we run the risk of hurting other people and hurting the cause of Christ.  Our words can speak life to someone else, and we can depend on God's Spirit to direct us as we speak.

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There is a template found in James chapter 1 that should govern the way we respond to what we hear
or see. The Bible says:
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

The tweet summarized a disastrous week for the mainstream media.  It was from James Smith, who is the Vice-President of Communications for National Religious Broadcasters, which is an organization that is made up of Christian communicators from around the world.  He tweeted out:

Karen Pence. BuzzFeed. Covington Catholic boys.

It’s been a bad week for the mainstream news media.

A really bad week.

#FakeNews

And, throw in the annual ritual of ignoring the thousands gathered on the National Mall to commemorate the March for Life in Washington.  Oh, but wait, the March for Life did receive some coverage.  Those young men from the Catholic school in Kentucky - the ones who were in those videos with a Native American tribal leader - oh, yes, they were with March for Life.  But, look, they are so rude and bigoted, they don't respect life; and the March for Life doesn't mean that much at all if these kinds of people are there - they're not pro-life...look at how those boys treated that great man.

And so it goes.  Even Christians on social media decried the actions of this group of young men.  But, there's a problem - perhaps the story did not unfold as it appeared.  Of course, once it was being reported that there was a false narrative, others doubled down on the original reporting.

It's kind of like the old "telephone" game in which people sit in a circle and share a story; by the time it gets back around, it's likely to have changed.  And, that seems to be what has occurred since Sunday morning, when Rod Dreher wrote this at The American Conservative:

A selected part of the clip shows boys jumping and hooting and acting in a somewhat intimidating way towards the older man, as if to mock him. Some people interpret the boy standing in front of the man, the kid with a rictus grin, as sneering at the old man. Others say that you can’t assume that was a sneer; maybe the kid just didn’t know what to do.

In any case, the Catholic school has apologized for its students’ action, and the mayor of their hometown has denounced them. The boys were in town for the March For Life. The video is being widely cited as an example of the Trumpification of Christianity, and connected to the Karen Pence school controversy as yet another example of why conservative Christianity is an evil that must be driven from the precincts of the decent.

However, Dreher admits that his initial impression may not have been correct, writing, "But then I watched more clips, showing the greater context of the incident. It is not as simple as it has been portrayed." You have some of the students, after facing widespread ridicule and their identities publicized, telling their side of the story.

Now, one of the acceptable views is that these young men from Covington Catholic School in Kentucky were waiting on their bus at the Lincoln Memorial following the March for Life.  They found themselves taunted by a group of Native Americans, including a man named Nathan Phillips, who marched up to one of the boys and beat his drum loudly.  You also had the so-called Black Hebrews, who believe they're the lost tribe of Israel, who began to insult the boys, as well.  And, of course, many of the Catholic boys were wearing Make America Great Again hats.  As Dreher writes:

...the white Catholic boys in their MAGA hats appearing to intimidate a Native American elder serves as a useful club with which to beat the entire March For Life, as well as conservative Christianity in general. I’m not saying that it wasn’t news, or shouldn’t have been reported. But tell the whole story. Tell how Phillips instigated this thing, and how the boys appear not to have understood what was happening. Tell how Phillips’s companion cursed them and hurled a racial slander at them. Talk about the Black Hebrews.

Megan Basham of WORLD Magazine wrote about how the original, 15-second viral video caused concern in the Christian community.  She said:

Prominent pastors, theologians, and Bible teachers quickly expressed outrage. “Let’s be clear, this isn’t simple hate, it’s demonic activity,” tweeted one pastor. Another publicly wondered if college admissions offices would post their pictures with the message “Do not admit.” A theologian commented, “This is white supremacist terrorism.” Others posted videos that showed a still image of the student’s smiling face next to pictures of smiling Nazi youth and young civil rights era segregationists.

Finally, a leading Bible teacher with nearly a million social media followers tweeted, “I cannot shake the terror of adolescents already indoctrinated in enough hate and disrespect to smile that chillingly and jeer without shame or fear of God. Uncurbed, this utter glee in dehumanizing is what humanitarian horrors are made of.”

The teacher, in another tweet said, “It reeks of the vomit of hell.”

Some Christian leaders and others who initially vilified the young men have apologized publicly.  Basham says, "Some church leaders have since deleted their condemnation while others have admirably expressed remorse and asked for forgiveness. Sadly, some of the most prominent have let the slander stand, leaving it to be drowned by whatever newer topics fill their feeds." She adds, "Whether it’s the fault of cowardice, laziness, or ignorance, it’s conduct unbecoming our Lord’s service. If we have the time to condemn, we have the time to correct." The teacher who said "It reeks of the vomit of hell," to my knowledge, has apparently pulled down the first tweet, but not the second, even though there are people online who are calling for that.

The students were due to return to school yesterday, but did not due to security concerns. It did reopen today. How sad!

Basham writes this:

...so many Christians find themselves eager to express a desire to do better than we have in the past in our treatment of minority believers, we rush unthinking toward opportunities to show our disgust at any accusation of racism in our ranks. We think we must not only have an opinion, we must broadcast it as quickly and stridently as possible, with the Biblical weight of Scripture often attached. This is a far greater error than so-called fake news, as we use our faith as cover for our rush to judgment.

Think of the young man whose face has now been plastered across the media, opening him to enduring attacks and penalties, and consider the travesty that Christians helped make that happen.

That is strong, but very true.  And, while it is commendable that those who originally posted condemnatory words have deleted their social media posts, that doesn't have the same impact as the ones who stood up and made an online apology.

But, we have to consider matters of etiquette and good will when we are in social media, as well as verbal conversation.  First thing: Think before you speak - or post.  Not a passing thought; perhaps, as it's been said, waiting for a while after a viral video is posted.  This is also a principle that can be applied as we talk with others; a word spoken quickly can be very harmful.

We can also evaluate how to respond when we hear a story about someone else - do we automatically believe what we hear about someone else - and then spread it?  The Bible calls out gossip and slander, and we have to make sure that we are not quick to participate in them; they are characterized as "works of the flesh."

In this information age, we can also consider the source; don't believe everything you read.  For instance, James Smith from NRB mentioned BuzzFeed in the tweet I referenced earlier - I don't consider BuzzFeed to be a credible news source; its determination to paint the President in a negative light by "reporting" a story from anonymous sources resulted in a rebuke from the Special Counsel's office about spreading false information.

We can also consider that there may be a story behind what seems to be the story.  And, if something seems true at face value, you may want to wait until more information comes out.  If somebody says, "If it were true," means that there may be some lack of credibility.

Finally, I think we can all do what we can, empowered by the Spirit, to lower the rhetorical tone.  Words matter - words spoken in hate, or bitterness, or anger, or in pursuit of an agenda that may not be Biblical in substance or delivery, are not helpful and do not contribute to the dissemination of God's truth into a world that needs to hear that.