One of these days we will arrive at a place where we are free from the influences of neighbours and the media. We will clearly hear the suggestions in the viral videos and articles and realize that we already know the truth and we will not allow any thing said to remove truth from its liberating perch.

Truth is remedy surpassing facts

“I have learnt two things about the press and wives. When they say something – don’t react.”

— Rakesh Jhunjhunwala

Social media and regular media reach into our lives, often saying nothing of consequence, but prompts us to react. “Say something”. “Share your views”. Will we ever see something and not do something? Maybe not. We can be certain that we are not all writers, no matter what app or platform we are using.

I have learnt one thing about the heavenly media: play ostrich and end up abandoned to chasing shadows.

Non-virtual algorithms

The natural pathways of information aimed at humans appear in the Eden narrative. This source shows how deeply invested God is in humans. “Do not mess with the knowledge of good and evil” seems tiny and odd compared to (1) have dominion over the fish, birds, and moving creatures and (2) dressing and keeping the garden.

Google and all the handlers of information think they have figured out how to make the world seem better than it is. All the people responding to news and disinformation do not constitute a think tank. How many people do we think are really interested in the end of racism and xenophobia? Why does it take decades to make the Bible the law of the land (as Israel claims to have done)? A mere handful are interested. Every day a person in power misleads and intimidates people who want neither Moses nor Christ as a civic leader.

Unless we want to prove that we are better than Adam and Eve we should stop talking about keeping hundreds of commandments so that God can bless us or so we can have God’s approval. So let us stop reacting to inflammatory and unvetted information, such as visions and promises of relief from all of life’s offerings, the resurrection of juvenile practices, and rather respond to the voice that calls us to decency honesty and excellence.