Just the Facts

In the classic police drama “Dragnet,” Sergeant Joe Friday (portrayed by the late Jack Webb) implored informants, “All we want are the facts.” Parodies have paraphrased this to where many believe Friday frequently said, “Just the facts, ma’am.” The truth is he never uttered that exact phrase on radio or TV. However, it was used to promote the 1987 movie “Dragnet” and as the title of an authorized biography of Jack Webb.

As stated before in this blog, I refuse to pass on chain letters. They often contain outdated or inaccurate information. A new one that’s appeared in my Facebook news feed is Tim Tebow warning us about the government preparing us for a cashless society. I don't believe Tim wrote this. It resembles a meme falsely attributed to another well-known Christian. 

For years, a prayer request has circulated with Joyce Meyer’s name attached to it. It claims twenty churches got burned down in an Indian province called Olisabang. There are no provinces in India. They have states and districts. None of which is named Olisabang. Joyce Meyer Ministries has confirmed that the message did not come from her.

During the last year, fact-checkers have gotten a negative reputation. Some have tried suppressing information about the 2020 election and the coronavirus. That doesn’t mean we should dismiss non-partisan fact-checkers like truthorfction.com (a website I often refer to). So before sharing a meme or story sent to you, please take a few seconds to verify its legitimacy. There’s too much fake news going around as it is. Would you like it if people claimed you wrote something that wasn’t true?

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” - Exodus 20:16

Seek and Speak the Truth

During this election season, many are quick to believe every negative report about the candidates they don’t want to win. A few of my Facebook friends have shared a post claiming vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris said, “American churches are propaganda centers for intolerant homophobic, xenophobic vitriol.” Many fact-checking sites are calling this a false statement. I couldn't find an article confirming she said this.

One Christian musician that was a Facebook friend posted the questionable quote on her wall. A friend of hers even claimed to have heard Harris say that. I wrote a comment asking when and where that happened. The musician accused me of being “rude” and blocked me. Wanting to remain on friendly terms with her, I sent an email via her website explaining my intent to verify the truthfulness of this statement. She responded by saying the Lord showed her this in her dreams and “…the Deep State already took it down.” I still have my doubts but won’t challenge someone who insists the Lord told them something unless it goes against Scripture.

Another quote going around attributed to Kamala Harris is her saying, “And once Trump’s gone and we have regained our rightful place in the White House, look out if you supported him and endorsed his actions because we’ll be coming for you next. You will feel the vengeance of a nation.” I found out this statement originated last year from a satirical site!

Certainly, I’m not endorsing Kamala Harris (I’ve already voted for the Trump-Pence ticket via absentee ballot). Nevertheless, believers shouldn’t be sharing hearsay. In the past, I’ve posted stuff online that was later discovered to be hoaxes and removed them. It should also be clarified that I don’t believe every fact-checking website (particularly those Facebook uses to censor posts regarding COVID-19). There are ones I trust like truthorfiction.com. Despite its purported liberal bias, even Snopes has correctly identified certain stories as e-rumors.

As Christians, we should be seeking and speaking the truth instead of being talebearers. No one is helped by circulating false stories.

“A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends.” 

- Proverbs 16:28 (NLT)

Think Before You Share

It’s often been said, “Think before you speak.” As James 1:19 says, “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” Nowadays with texting and emails, we should think twice before typing and posting something online. In the words of one pastor friend: “Put brain into gear before putting mouth/finger into action.”

Too many people quickly share stuff on social media without checking its veracity. As a result, hoaxes have circulated for years such as the “22 Christian missionary families that will be executed today in Afghanistan.” I have a policy not to forward any chain letter or meme and will block (but not unfriend) individuals who persist in sending me these messages.

One type of chain letter that can have negative consequences is those involving missing people. I’ve received messages with pleas such as, “If it was your child, you would want all the help you could get.” If it was my child and he/she was found, I wouldn’t want these messages to continue circulating. In recent months, many alerts appeared in my Facebook news feed with the appeal, “It takes seconds to share.” It also takes seconds to click the link provided to see if an alert has been updated. Most missing child reports I’ve seen online have already been resolved. 

Two days ago, a friend posted one that turned out to be seven years old. My investigation also found the above meme from the mother of that once-missing child. I don’t understand why some people keep resolved alerts posted on their Facebook pages. Not everyone takes time to scroll through all the responding comments to see a possible update. It’s better to delete the entire post. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that not all missing person alerts are legit. Some are posted by abusive parents and spouses who have court orders not to go near their estranged relatives. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has warned that sharing these photos may put lives at risk. Sometimes the "missing people" in these posts aren’t missing but hiding for their safety.

So think before you share. Better yet…Pray first! Then check for a location and date in the missing person report. If it doesn’t include these, contact the local police to confirm the report is real. Once again, God’s people should have higher standards when sharing information. 

“Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked.” - Exodus 23:7 

Why I Boycott Babylon Bee

Anyone who knows me will tell you I enjoy comedy. Jesse Duplantis and Kenneth Copeland get me laughing with some of their preaching stories. Worship leader Roy Fields would make a great stand-up comedian with his impersonations of fellow ministers. In my monthly newsletter, I used to publish jokes in a “Holy Humor” column. Nowadays, I usually share a “Friday Funny” on Facebook and Twitter. As Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart does good, like medicine…”

However, Christians should avoid humorous materials that contain profanity and conjure up immoral images. Colossians 3:8 says, “But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.” The next verse goes on to say, “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds.” It grieves me to see believers share misleading news stories on their social media pages even if it's meant to be a joke. One source of that is Babylon Bee, a satirical website often compared to The Onion.

A minister I know recently posted on Facebook a Babylon Bee article claiming: “Bernie Sanders Praises China For Eradicating Poverty By Killing All The Poor People.” I wrote a response pointing out this is fake news. My friend removed my comment and added, “I do not care if this site is satirical.” While I appreciate his desire to expose the dangers of socialism, spreading lies about a politician is not the solution. Jesus said it’s the truth that makes us free (John 8:32). It would be better to share writings with documented proof like Rodney Howard-Browne’s latest book “Socialism Under the Microscope.”

In August 2017, Babylon Bee published an article that included the following paragraph…

“Although Joel Osteen took flak over the weekend for closing up his church to flood victims and all but disappearing during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, the megachurch pastor reportedly returned to the city on his luxury yacht ’S.S. Blessed’ to make amends Tuesday by tossing copies of ‘Your Best Life Now’ to stranded flood survivors.”

Many people believed this story and circulated it as if it were true. In her Charisma column “Watchman on the Wall”, Jennifer LeClaire wrote in response: “Can we get some responsibility in journalism, please? I suppose Joel is an easy target at some level since he's a happy guy with a mega church and mega prosperity. But the Bible warns against bearing false witness. This was clearly an assignment from the pit of hell to slander him at a time when we should be focused on helping Texas recover.” I totally agree. Nevertheless, Babylon Bee has continued releasing phony reports about Joel and other ministers that Facebook friends have shared.

I refuse to waste my time reading bogus articles like those published by Babylon Bee. Even though satirical sites usually have disclaimers, not everyone notices them. It’s a bad witness to the world when Christians don’t take time to investigate and pass on fraudulent stories.

“You shall not circulate a false report.” - Exodus 23:1

Break Every Chain Letter

Since I started using email in the late 1990s, electronic chain letters frequently show up in my inbox with the exhortation to “pass it on.” They vary from inspirational stories to virus warnings. Often these messages contain partial truths mixed with false information. For years I received online petitions against Madalyn Murray O’Hair campaigning for all Christian programming to be taken off the air, even though O’Hair had been dead since 1995!

More recently, a couple of Facebook friends posted a prayer request for a 22-month-old boy who supposedly shot himself in the chest with a nail gun and was near death. Upon seeing this, I started praying about the situation and immediately perceived it was an e-rumor. A search on truthorfiction.com revealed this prayer request has circulated online since 2010 (meaning the boy would be 8-9 years old now). The validity of this is in question since no places are mentioned or even the boy’s name.

I’ve also received emails containing valid information but try putting guilt trips on others who won’t forward them to their friends. These emails contain statements like “If you really love Jesus, forward this to everyone in your address book” or “If you are not ashamed of all the marvelous things God has done for you...send this to ten people and the person who sent it to you!” Just because I won’t forward messages like these doesn’t mean I don’t believe in God or I’m ashamed of the gospel. Comments like these are not inspired by the Holy Spirit but are of a controlling manipulative spirit.

Now as an evangelist, I’m certainly in favor of using the Internet to reach people with the gospel. But when we’re “preaching to the choir”, it’s best to be a little more selective on who you forward emails to. Back in the old days, people used carbon paper that permitted one to make a few legible copies. That caused one to think good and hard about who to send those copies to.

Nowadays, people forward information to others without even thinking. In general, this is rude. People have less time than ever today with so much information to absorb. One should learn to respect another person’s time and bandwidth. Before forwarding a message to friends and colleagues, ask yourself “Do they really need to know?” This includes Facebook posts exhorting others to “like and share if you agree.” Since I don’t want to clutter other people’s accounts, I ignore these posts even if I do agree with them.

Finally, we can do our part in reducing the number of e-rumors spreading over the Internet. Whenever you receive a story or prayer request that’s been forwarded many times, don’t automatically assume it’s true. Take a minute to verify its authenticity. Christians who spread misleading information do not advance the cause of Christ. It only undermines their witness. 

“You shall not circulate a false report.” - Exodus 23:1