U22
I came across an article with a headline that could be embarrassing for the evangelical community should the contents be accurate: “Faith factor: Spiritual groups on Facebook as effective tools for disinformation.”
So I went through the story which relied heavily on a religion sociologist from a premier university. Rappler, for all my respect for it, failed in one of the most basic tenets of journalism---get the side of the people involved.
Below are the most interesting statements that concern our community. I suggest you read the piece yourself as these are just snippets.
“There is an online community that is often left unchecked: the faith or spiritual groups….‘Born again, Christianity, Bible’ biggest of them all.”
This statement as well as the headline was something that never occurred to me, perhaps if only because I stay away from faith-based FB groups and group chats. Good for my mental health.
“Much of this theological discourse is derived from US fundamentalists who happen to be anti-vaxxers....”
Whenever someone (including yours truly) speaks from the Word, we must be like “the Berean Jews (who) were of more noble character…, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11, NIV). Verify, verify, verify.
“Many Christians fall for end-time narratives because they simply do not know that there are other ways of appreciating Revelation, for example, as a historical text written during the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.”
Many Christians fall for end-time narratives because they simply do not know their Bible. They just rely on others. A Berean believer would immediately dismiss these pandemic doomsayers.
I do now know what the expert means by “other ways” but let us remember that Revelations is primarily a book prophesying the end-times and the second coming of Christ. Unless we are using the term differently, it is not a “historical text” which in my understanding means text containing events that have already occurred.
“Some false claims found in these faith groups are harder to fact-check. These are the more insidious, misleading content that play on the beliefs and faith of the members, and often use language that has a moral and emotional impact.”
No, it’s not that hard. Just TRUTH-check it with the Bible.
“For example, there were posts that claimed God is the only cure for COVID-19, or that faith in God will keep people away from contracting COVID-19. While these may sound harmless at first glance, there are still members that may take these statements at face value and stop taking necessary precautions.”
So those who got infected and especially died from COVID-19 had no faith? And those that never got infected had faith even though they may profess to be an atheist or belonging to another faith? Are we to believe that none of those who posted these misleading statements got a whiff of the virus at all?
“Other posts containing health disinformation related to more controversial topics like abortion and masturbation are also harder to fact-check, because they are usually just lumped together as ‘sins’ and call them ‘evil.’”
Abortion is indeed sin and evil. No two ways about it in the Bible which teaches that children are a gift from the Lord and we are not to kill.
“There were also posts that attempted to explain everyday events as ‘God’s will’ – or something that humans can no longer control. This language makes claims like this more appealing to the religious public because it reaffirms their faith in a higher being. (The expert) said that following God’s will is something that many Filipinos could resonate with.”
Everything that happens is allowed by God for reasons that mostly are beyond our understanding to the point that we find ourselves aghast. But it is the height of blasphemous pride to feel that we are more righteous than the Righteous One. We are making ourselves like God, which was why mankind was banished from the Garden of Eden. God’s ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts otherwise He will be just like us---imperfect and unholy.
“(He) argued that the theologies proclaimed in the religious groups are being echoed by their members, and thus have an effect on the greater public because the issues at hand are not only concerned with ‘spiritual’ matters. ‘In fact, recognizing that theology is publicly consequential compels faith communities to reflect on the quality of citizens they promote in their midst.”
This is why no one can ever say that politics and the Bible don’t mix. What we learn and read from Scriptures will show in our actions and decisions which have consequences to other people and society, even if we wave the neutrality flag till we’re blue in the face.
“The content analysis found that already-debunked false posts were also shared in the faith groups, such as the Marcos gold, Marcos vs Aquino comparisons, and exaggerated accomplishments of the Marcos and Duterte administrations.
The community clustering above also showed that almost all of the faith communities are linked to the Duterte and Marcos supporter networks, indicating that it is easy for the members of political groups to penetrate the religious community.”
At least the expert gave the members benefit of doubt not ascribing fake news and distorted history to them. But it is sad that he did not observe attempts to filter and block these historical heretics.
“To effectively combat the spread of disinformation and to protect the religious public from being used as tools to spread false information online, (the expert) encouraged more people to practice public theology, or the theological work that engages the public in a way that makes it easier for the majority – including the non-religious – to understand.
“This means that religious ideas need to be expressed sometimes in non-religious ways [e.g. human rights, good research, ethical choices, pakikipagkapwa-tao].”
For churches at a loss on how to reach out to their own members as well as those outside of the faith, there you go, or should I say, there we go.
“In other cases, public theology also demands that ‘bad theology’ be confronted. I feel that religious schools can do a lot more in this area. Also churches if their pastors and priests are brave enough….We need to work with the religious sector actively.”
Yes, bad theology must be confronted especially when they come from the pulpit. Sadly, leaders have been found with their heads buried in the sand with a word balloon, “Respect my opinion.” Worse, some have become willing perpetrators of fake news themselves.
We claim to be followers of the Truth and God-fearers which is the beginning of wisdom, and yet we’re so easily taken in by lies and half-truths. How can we be credible and show people the Way when mismo tayo uto-uto? Konting critical thinking naman.
I came across an article with a headline that could be embarrassing for the evangelical community should the contents be accurate: “Faith factor: Spiritual groups on Facebook as effective tools for disinformation.”
So I went through the story which relied heavily on a religion sociologist from a premier university. Rappler, for all my respect for it, failed in one of the most basic tenets of journalism---get the side of the people involved.
Below are the most interesting statements that concern our community. I suggest you read the piece yourself as these are just snippets.
“There is an online community that is often left unchecked: the faith or spiritual groups….‘Born again, Christianity, Bible’ biggest of them all.”
This statement as well as the headline was something that never occurred to me, perhaps if only because I stay away from faith-based FB groups and group chats. Good for my mental health.
“Much of this theological discourse is derived from US fundamentalists who happen to be anti-vaxxers....”
Whenever someone (including yours truly) speaks from the Word, we must be like “the Berean Jews (who) were of more noble character…, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11, NIV). Verify, verify, verify.
“Many Christians fall for end-time narratives because they simply do not know that there are other ways of appreciating Revelation, for example, as a historical text written during the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.”
Many Christians fall for end-time narratives because they simply do not know their Bible. They just rely on others. A Berean believer would immediately dismiss these pandemic doomsayers.
I do now know what the expert means by “other ways” but let us remember that Revelations is primarily a book prophesying the end-times and the second coming of Christ. Unless we are using the term differently, it is not a “historical text” which in my understanding means text containing events that have already occurred.
“Some false claims found in these faith groups are harder to fact-check. These are the more insidious, misleading content that play on the beliefs and faith of the members, and often use language that has a moral and emotional impact.”
No, it’s not that hard. Just TRUTH-check it with the Bible.
“For example, there were posts that claimed God is the only cure for COVID-19, or that faith in God will keep people away from contracting COVID-19. While these may sound harmless at first glance, there are still members that may take these statements at face value and stop taking necessary precautions.”
So those who got infected and especially died from COVID-19 had no faith? And those that never got infected had faith even though they may profess to be an atheist or belonging to another faith? Are we to believe that none of those who posted these misleading statements got a whiff of the virus at all?
“Other posts containing health disinformation related to more controversial topics like abortion and masturbation are also harder to fact-check, because they are usually just lumped together as ‘sins’ and call them ‘evil.’”
Abortion is indeed sin and evil. No two ways about it in the Bible which teaches that children are a gift from the Lord and we are not to kill.
“There were also posts that attempted to explain everyday events as ‘God’s will’ – or something that humans can no longer control. This language makes claims like this more appealing to the religious public because it reaffirms their faith in a higher being. (The expert) said that following God’s will is something that many Filipinos could resonate with.”
Everything that happens is allowed by God for reasons that mostly are beyond our understanding to the point that we find ourselves aghast. But it is the height of blasphemous pride to feel that we are more righteous than the Righteous One. We are making ourselves like God, which was why mankind was banished from the Garden of Eden. God’s ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts otherwise He will be just like us---imperfect and unholy.
“(He) argued that the theologies proclaimed in the religious groups are being echoed by their members, and thus have an effect on the greater public because the issues at hand are not only concerned with ‘spiritual’ matters. ‘In fact, recognizing that theology is publicly consequential compels faith communities to reflect on the quality of citizens they promote in their midst.”
This is why no one can ever say that politics and the Bible don’t mix. What we learn and read from Scriptures will show in our actions and decisions which have consequences to other people and society, even if we wave the neutrality flag till we’re blue in the face.
“The content analysis found that already-debunked false posts were also shared in the faith groups, such as the Marcos gold, Marcos vs Aquino comparisons, and exaggerated accomplishments of the Marcos and Duterte administrations.
The community clustering above also showed that almost all of the faith communities are linked to the Duterte and Marcos supporter networks, indicating that it is easy for the members of political groups to penetrate the religious community.”
At least the expert gave the members benefit of doubt not ascribing fake news and distorted history to them. But it is sad that he did not observe attempts to filter and block these historical heretics.
“To effectively combat the spread of disinformation and to protect the religious public from being used as tools to spread false information online, (the expert) encouraged more people to practice public theology, or the theological work that engages the public in a way that makes it easier for the majority – including the non-religious – to understand.
“This means that religious ideas need to be expressed sometimes in non-religious ways [e.g. human rights, good research, ethical choices, pakikipagkapwa-tao].”
For churches at a loss on how to reach out to their own members as well as those outside of the faith, there you go, or should I say, there we go.
“In other cases, public theology also demands that ‘bad theology’ be confronted. I feel that religious schools can do a lot more in this area. Also churches if their pastors and priests are brave enough….We need to work with the religious sector actively.”
Yes, bad theology must be confronted especially when they come from the pulpit. Sadly, leaders have been found with their heads buried in the sand with a word balloon, “Respect my opinion.” Worse, some have become willing perpetrators of fake news themselves.
We claim to be followers of the Truth and God-fearers which is the beginning of wisdom, and yet we’re so easily taken in by lies and half-truths. How can we be credible and show people the Way when mismo tayo uto-uto? Konting critical thinking naman.