Here’s the thing. Its been probably close to five years now since I have watched either Fox News or CNN or any other broadcast news program. In my office, CNBC runs in the background on the televisions hanging on the walls with the sound off. That’s the extent of my television news consumption. Why? A well deserved trust deficit. Put simply, I don’t believe any of them. More charitably, I believe that the news that gets presented to the public contains grains of truth, but by the time the story gets spun through each network’s bias-filters, the end result isn’t news at all but an editorialized version of the truth. So, how do I get my news? The answer isn’t exactly encouraging or even practical for me or anyone else, but here goes.
The news I get comes from a combination of places, none of which is totally reliable. Each source requires healthy skepticism, and even then, there are no guarantees that I’ve gotten it right. I check out stories found in the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, BBC online, NPR and during a breaking news story, any British tabloid can be depended upon to have pictures and video from the scene a few hours before any American operation even shows up. So, that’s my system. Its not perfect but its the best I can do. Its important to add that I get zero percent of my news from the most ill-named entity in the world…social media.
There is an enormous trust deficit that plagues my interaction with this modern world. I have come to the place where I have lost trust and confidence in practically every public institution in America. This has not always been so. But events of recent years has made it difficult to overcome. Here’s what it comes down to, without trust you become adrift. I don’t trust the Republican Party because of their seeming suicide pact with Donald Trump and obsession with waging culture wars. I don’t trust that the Democrats can govern the country without appeasing the lunatic left among them who seem determined to not stop until the entire country is throwing gender reveal parties with sixteen different colors. I don’t trust government in general but mostly the governments which are furthest away from the governed, ie…I’m kinda ok with Henrico County, less so with the people in Richmond, and far less so those in Washington. The corrupting influences of money and power have proven too much for far too many of those who assume to lead us. I don’t trust large corporations to ever act in anyone’s interest other than their own. I hate the lack of accountability for the thieves in corporate suites who get rewarded for their malfeasance with tax-payer bailouts. The institutional church, large and small, has also lost my trust. The horror stories throughout the Catholic priesthood, as well as the sexual predators within the Southern Baptist Convention have made a skeptic of me. The church that Pam and I found almost seven years ago has been a towering blessing for us both, but I keep my eyes wide open even there.
You may fairly ask, Is there anything left in this world that you do trust, anything left that you believe in? The answer is “Yes”.
I trust every dog I’ve ever had. I believe in the words of Jesus. I trust the love of God. I believe in the beauty of music. I trust a beautifully written story. I believe in the power of forgiveness and grace. I believe in my family and their love for me. I believe that being kind is better than being right. I believe that a generous life is the best kind of life. I believe that the finest thing you will ever witness on an athletic field is a perfectly executed squeeze play. I believe that my parents loved each other. There is nobody I trust more than someone who is loving and generous to the strangers among us.
But that’s about it. From everyone else…cash only.
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