Things have sure changed with the creation of the internet. Most
of that change is good. It's great to be able to communicate so quickly in this
way; to get news the moment it happens; to research and learn about any topic
one wants. These are all positives.
Of course as with everything, there is also a down side. Aside
from the most damaging and obvious negative (the easy availability of
pornography) false facts and news stories are also easily spread. That can be
very dangerous, as well.
Personal blogs are numerous - seems everyone has one - but not
all are careful with the truth.
Political blogs run rampant with every subject one could
imagine. That doesn't mean they have their facts straight. Medical issues are
discussed and discussed again - many with little regard to science or competent
resources.
Many of these websites claim they have the correct answer often
without any proof, or citing any resources of any kind.
Along with all of the above, conspiracy theories abound! Especially
in the political realm. This is extremely unfortunate, in my opinion. Seems
like everyone loves a good conspiracy. But in reality, anything outside of
truth is harmful in one way or another.
These sites have little respect for the truth. They just want to
promote something as outlandish as they can make it, in order to get those
valuable "clicks" to their website. The problem is, people believe all of it as if
it were fact. This is extremely damaging to our society.
There also seems to be a segment of the conservative side of
politics that is getting as careless with the truth, as the liberal side has
been. They have been labeled "the far right". I think that's probably
not an appropriate label. Many of them are libertarian, ill-informed
conservatives, or people that have been frightened by intentional
fear-mongering. They are all unified for one reason: they don't trust the government.
And that is the root of this political faction that is spreading anti-government
rhetoric.
Now, certainly we shouldn't blindly trust our government.
(Especially with an administration such as the one we have now.) Our Founders warned us of that, they
also provided us with protection from our government in such cases. But, we
must also use a little common sense and avoid reacting from fear.
When I was a kid, growing up in the '60's, some common mantras
that we heard from the counter-culture that was attempting to change our
society were: "Don't trust your government". Don't trust anyone over
thirty." "Cops are pigs". Things were changing and there was a
leftist ideology infiltrating our nation and infecting our youth.
My dad wisely taught me this was a very dangerous time. This was
going to affect us forever, if we allowed it to continue. If we don't trust our
government, we won't use it properly. We will run from it. We won't do
anything, because we have been convinced (brainwashed, really) that it won't do
any good anyway. It all leads us to inaction. Inaction leads to being controlled
by whomever is smart enough to be active.
We must never forget that we the people are the government. It
can work without us, but it won't work to our advantage if we are uninvolved
and silent. This anti-government rhetoric is every bit as dangerous to our
nation as the liberal, left socialist agenda.
Conspiracy theories are not based on truth, they are based on
suspicion. That is not Biblical and anything that is contrary to the Bible is
dangerous. Why are we as Christians ok with that in this realm, when we wouldn't
be in any other?
We must be wary, and cautious. We must be vigilant in assuring
what might be feared cannot happen. But we must never let it polarize us with
distrust and fear. We cannot think the
worst about the best government system in the world and expect good results.
Distrust an administration and actively and aggressively seek to change it. We
are afforded that opportunity by our Constitution. We must honor that to keep
it. But we must quit attacking our government and nation. We must be certain we
only promote truth. If we do not, we only join those who seek to destroy us.
The worst about the best, is still the best. Let's keep it that
way.
