Josh Benner

Tag: fake news

  • Is the media making truth harder to know?

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    With major news stories, does anyone else ever feel like it can be incredibly hard to even know what’s true?
     
    All of the media outlets have agenda, the spin that comes from both parties, facts getting twisted, intellectual dishonesty. I believe that truth is inherently worth knowing and pursuing and I feel like they make it so hard. I’ve read multiple articles on the border situation everyday this week. 
     
    It’s complicated. There’s a lot of context to these situations. 
     
    But it’s made so much more complicated to understand because of coverage. And I see it with stories all the time. 
     
    Every major media outlet does things that undermine their own credibility. Not saying they’re wrong on everything, but they’ve all been guilty of things to where I feel they can’t be trusted on everything. Some of the photos that are being shared aren’t even recent. Most noteworthy among them is the one of the little girl who’s crying. The one Time put on the cover. It’s not even true. She was never even separated from her mother. 
    There is no media outlet that has the credibility where they deserve to be implicitly trusted based on reputation alone.
     
    You hear different statistics and then conflicting statistics. 
     
    There are questions about what did or did not happen during the Obama administration. What Trump can or cannot do in regards to the border. 
     
    I also feel like a lot of things hinge on which side of the political aisle someone is on. Some people will just automatically assume it’s bad and wrong if Trump does it (same when Obama was president, same when George W. Bush was president). Others will generally be inclined to agree with the president if he’s in their party. But it’s shortsighted to think one president is always right or always wrong, and I feel like that biases how we interpret events in the world. 
     
    It’s so hard for there to be civility in arguments. There’s so much venom and vitriol. So much judgment and condemnation with those who respectfully disagree. So many assumptions we make about people’s character and intelligence based purely on if they agree or disagree with us. 
     
    We assume that people who disagree have their heads in the sand. 
     
    It’s hard to know what’s true! 
     
    For every statement, there is an opposite statement that someone will make where they also have a link to something that agrees with their point. 
     
    And it goes round and round. 
    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

  • California is NOT banning Bible sales

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    I’ve seen stories circulating about California banning the Bible. I’m also seeing some people sharing links from various websites (none of them are major news sites) talking about this ban.

    All of this is in relation to California Assembly Bill 2943, a bill which is related to “sexual orientation change efforts” also known as “conversion therapy,” which are therapeutic methods aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender based on psychological and/or spiritual interventions.

    Among the headlines I’m seeing:

    “Liberty counsel warning: California about to ban Bible sales”

    “One step closer to law: could a California bill ultimately lead to the banning of Bibles?”

    “Just in: liberal California lawmakers propose bill to ban sale of Bibles”

    “Developing: California pushes bill that appears to ban sale of Bibles.”

    There are cries of censorship, violating the first amendment. I’ve seen tweets that show the Nazis burning books.

    Since these therapies can be done as commercial business, consumer protection laws would therefore apply.

    From the bill:

    Courts, including in California, have recognized the practice of sexual orientation change efforts as a commercial service, andservice. Therefore, claims that sexual orientation change efforts are effective in changing an individual’s sexual orientation, may constitute unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business practices under state consumer protection laws. This bill intends to make clear that sexual orientation change efforts are an unlawful practice under California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act.

    To say that this law is a ban on the Bible in the Great State of California is a falsehood. To anyone who disagrees with that, show me where it says that?

    It doesn’t.

    I feel like there are websites that are writing headlines which misrepresent the facts of this law, for the sake of people clicking on their links. One of the people who’s addressed the law is a man in California who’s running for governor. He’s furthering the myth about what this law does. That seems to be fear mongering.

    We need to be intellectually honest. California is not working on passing a law that bans sales of the Bible.

    I’ve already said the bill doesn’t explicitly set forth a ban. Where in the bill does it implicitly give the right to make a ban on Bible sales?

    I realize that there are some people in this country who are very hostile to Christianity and the Bible. But that doesn’t mean that they’re tyrannical to the point of wanting a ban. And even if a small fringe did want that, it wouldn’t work. This country is 75% Christian.

    Also, let’s say that this did happen. How do you ban the sale of Bibles in a state? People have smart phones where they can DOWNLOAD a Bible. People have Amazon where they can order the Bible from another state. There are independent book stores that sell used books. Even closed off countries with totalitarian rulers who try to actually ban Bibles struggle to do that.

    But that’s not what is happening.

    There are plenty of issues in this country related to religious liberty. California banning the Bible is not one of them.

    I do believe there can be people who really do seek counsel for SOCE. I do think that this bill could infringe upon what therapists and counselors are able to do in working with those clients. From that perspective, I do see how there could be an infringement of religious liberties. And that’s an issue. However that’s a different issue than banning Bible sales.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.