Fake News

We are living in the age of fake news. President Trump’s use of fake news as an excuse for when things go wrong seems to be a common cry these days. The problem is that fake news works both ways; the fact that you accuse others of using fake news doesn’t mean that what you say is the unvarnished truth; far from it.

 So, the question of our times is ‘what, then, do you believe?’ What can you believe if you are suspicious of everything. Everything becomes relative and subjective. If I think that everything has the potential to be fake news, then I am cast adrift in a sea of doubt. I end up by only trusting myself, and that may not be the best way forward for a variety of reasons.

 I personally believe that a religious faith can offer a way out of the impasse. Actually, any value system can do this because what you are doing when you advocate a set of values is trusting in a set of principles that guides you and motivates you. Of course, we have to be discerning judges of our values; it is perfectly possible to sign up to a set of values uncritically and believe what other people tell you. That way lies tyranny and oppression. But if those values ask us to work for the common good, then there is the chance that the common good is what may come out of our endeavours.

 It seems to me that we have two choices before us at the moment. We either turn inwards and say that we can’t believe anything anymore, or we trust our convictions and say that we do believe in something worth living for and we will devote our lives to working towards its aims. And in age where fake news appears to be ruling the roost, stating what we believe in has never seemed more important.