social media

Christians, Election 2016, and Honesty on Social Media

on September 15, 2016

Christians have a moral mandate to spread the truth. This election cycle puts that commitment to the test. While we may not have direct control over what candidates say on the campaign trail, we do have control over the stories we promote and the facts we promulgate within our relational networks, specifically on social media.

The featured story of the most recent edition of The Economist was headlined “Art of the lie,” with the teaser “Post-truth politics in the age of social media” on the front cover. The piece focused most heavily on Republican candidate Donald Trump – calling him “the leading exponent of ‘post-truth’ politics” – and delved into why politics “based on evidence” has declined worldwide as of late.

While the magazine had hardly anything to say about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, it’s true that neither major candidate has been entirely forthright this campaign season (just take a look at PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter). That being said, Trump’s antics have garnered the most attention this election cycle since he has made numerous outlandish claims.

Specific candidates aside, The Economist offered some sound analysis explaining the “post-truth” phenomenon in politics. They noted that this trend “has many parents,” including frustration among voters, but they also highlighted how social media can amplify untruth. The magazine commented:

Post-truth has also been abetted by the evolution of the media. The fragmentation of news sources has created an atomised world in which lies, rumour [sic] and gossip spread with alarming speed. Lies that are widely shared online within a network, whose members trust each other more than they trust any mainstream-media source, can quickly take on the appearance of truth. Presented with evidence that contradicts a belief that is dearly held, people have a tendency to ditch the facts first.

Average American voters might feel like they have little direct control over our “post-truth” political culture. But they do. Everyone who tweets, posts on Facebook, shares memes on Instagram, or comments on Reddit engages in spreading words, and each of us is responsible for what we communicate.

James, in his New Testament epistle, wrote about the damage we can cause with our words: “How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.” (James 3:5b-6, ESV)

These are incisive and convicting statements indeed. Hard as our words may be to control, we clearly have a God-given responsibility to do so, even on social media. As a consequence, if we spread false information this election season, we bear moral culpability for contributing to the problem of the current “post-truth” climate. We also bear the blame if we repeat false information without exercising our Creator-endowed common sense or our Christ-like discernment, even if the given falsities originated with someone else.

These principles remain most difficult to apply when it comes to public figures and candidates ostensibly aligned with our own ideological leanings. Without delving into specific claims, individuals, or candidates at this point, I challenge my fellow Protestants (particularly white Evangelicals), to stay particularly vigilant. Let’s not allow political expedience to disorient our moral compass or undermine our social witness. We have a responsibility to filter what we hear even from those on our own side of the aisle and those who claim to share our faith.

Promoting political conservativism – or political progressivism, for that matter – ought not to trump our duty to spread the Kingdom of Heaven with a clean conscience and a pure heart. Indeed, Christians believe that we play an active part in Jesus Christ’s ongoing plan to establish His eternal Kingdom. He will “uphold it with justice and with righteousness,” in the words of the prophet Isaiah, not by promoting dishonesty and half-truths. May our Savior’s methods also be our methods, including on social media.

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