Nicholas Kristof recently wrote in the NewYork Times about the prevalence of "alternate news" sources, mostly spread via the internet, that peddle nothing but false news, based on pure fabrication.
He gave examples: According to one website, the Democratic presidential candidate was involved in a satanic cult and an international child enslavement and sex trafficking ring. Of course both of these accusations were without basis. Among the hundreds of people adamantly believing and sharing this misinformation was someone I know.
So Kristof''s example really hit home, hard.
And it frightened me.
I've written about being careful in choosing sources of news. (Including steering clear of talk radio, television news and fake-news websites as our primary news sources.)
Breitbart News is an example of a website that offers thinly disguised racism and xenophobia as news. USA Today has reported that the president-elect has chosen Stephen Bannon as his chief White House strategist and counselor. Bannon is the CEO of Breitbart News.
Speaking of the danger of false news being spread via social media, President Obama recently mentioned, "If we are not serious about facts and what's true and what's not...If we can't discriminate between serious agreements and propaganda, then we have problems."
Years ago I taught a class on Research Writing & Rhetoric. The first lesson each semester always included a challenge to check sources of information.
Part of this process involved explaining the difference between a fact, an inference and a judgment.
The textbook I was using offered a really good example. Say you were invited to your Uncle Jim and Aunt Maggie's home for Christmas dinner. As you walk into the living room Uncle Jim is standing next to the Christmas Tree, smoking a cigar. You walk past him into the dining room. A few moments after you sit down to eat, smoke is seen coming from the living room.
One relative says, "Smoke is coming from the living room!" That's a fact. You can see the smoke and smell it.
Someone else at the table adds, "The Christmas Tree's on fire!" That's an inference - there's smoke coming from the living room. The Christmas Tree is in the living room. Therefore, the cause of the smoke must be the Christmas Tree. But no one has gotten up from the table to check to see if this is an accurate statement.
Another person declares with conviction, "Uncle Jim is so careless!" That's a judgment, coming from the inference that the Christmas Tree must be on fire.
The smoke could have been caused by a variety of things - for instance, a spark from faulty wiring igniting a piece of paper nearby.
Are you beginning to see how the connection between fact, inference and judgement works?
In his article, Kristof's main point was that there are a proliferation of website-based and talk show- based "news" sources that skip right past facts to inferences. In many cases (as with the example of the Democratic candidate being part of a satanic cult), there isn't any fact behind the inference, leading the reader down the path of forming a negative opinion that's not even faintly based in reality.
And that's how intellectual illiteracy spreads.
Intellectual illiteracy happens when we substitute inferences and judgments and even opinions for facts.
Someone who cannot read is left wide open to a false impression of a book, or any written material. And someone who doesn't think logically, based on factual information, is left wide open to be influenced by wildly false and inaccurate conclusions.
Decision making involves discernment. And discernment is, at least in part, a spiritual act.
We are living in an age where intellectual illiteracy spills over into all areas of life. Including our spiritual side. If we aren't able to get in touch with our souls, our spiritual health suffers, and we're in danger of becoming spiritually inarticulate.
Over time, we can lose the ability to communicate with our souls or even hear what our souls are trying to tell us. Truth, at its deepest level, involves a spiritual dimension. That's where our conscience and true wisdom come from.
Let's take a couple of real life examples of how this plays out.
According to a NY Times exit poll, 81 percent of white evangelicals voted for the Republican presidential candidate, fully aware of that candidate's unchristian behavior. As did 58 percent of Protestant Christians. The Washington Post exit poll arrived at the same conclusion as did the Pew Research Center.
Why would anyone who professes that their Christian faith is important vote for someone whose actions show they aren't a "true believer?"
86 percent of those who voted for the Republican presidential candidate support building a wall across the Mexican border. But the fact is, since the Great Recession, more Mexicans are leaving the US than entering. A Pew Research Center study confirms this.
Why would such a high percentage of Republican voters say building a wall across Mexico is important when the data shows that it's unnecessary? (Not to mention extremely expensive at an estimated cost of $25 billion.)
We tend to vote with our feelings when continually exposed to inaccurate information presented as fact. And without having the benefit of spiritual discernment, that's how we become unduly influenced by fear and insecurity.
Entire nations have suffered from the effects of such morally broken decision making.
Let's earnestly pray that ours doesn't.
Photo Credit: from Technical Efficiency Coaching
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