"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers." - VoltairE

Check your sources

Posted by Anne Witton on Tuesday, November 3, 2020 Under: Random stuff


One of the unfortunate effects of the COVID-19 crisis seems to be an increase in false information being shared via social media and messaging apps. I’ve had supermarket scams, fake C. S. Lewis quotes and vaccination rumours shared with me by well-meaning fellow Christians (sometimes multiple times).

There are also Christian memes doing the rounds - sentiments that are wrapped up to look like Bible verses but are not in fact biblical. You may have seen the kind of thing – a cute puppy with a broken vase and the text “Everything happens for a reason” or a smiling woman in a field of flowers with “You’re perfect as you are”.

As Christians, we should be concerned with truth. Jesus declares that he himself is truth - he is ultimate reality (John 14: 6). It damages our witness when we’re seen to be gullibly passing on untruth without checking it first.

We’re called to be wise not naive. Faith is the opposite of uninformed credulity. It is based on evidence and provides a best fit for the phenomena we see around us (John 14: 11, 1 Pet 3: 15).

So here are some tips before sharing:
  1. Think for a moment - is this credible or likely?
  2. Is the source reliable? The BBC and the Economist are more reliable sources than Buzzfeed and the Daily Mail (But remember that even reliable sources can make mistakes)
  3. Can it be verified by another reliable source?
  4. Can I check its truth? Go to a website like Snopes or Full Fact
  5. Is it consistent with biblical truth?
  6. Is it helpful for other people to know? Is it interesting, useful, challenging or encouraging? Or is it vacuous nonsense?
  7. If in doubt, don’t share.

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