On the face of it there’s not much to link a convicted mass-murderer, a fake you tube video and a miraculous healing witnessed by 20 odd people and filmed to record the occasion.
I’ve seen all three of these events cause some debate in the last week and all based on whether we can believe what we are told or see. The age of the computer technology means that the filmed or photographed event is no longer trusted as we can simply mock up or fake reality so well that we can no longer know the difference. The written word is also no longer trusted as numberless journalists twist and turn their prose to fit a certain view or approach. Many have simply stopped trying and just make their stories up….And lets not get started about the inability of governments to tell the truth unless it suits them.
The latest video doing the you-tube rounds is the 100 foot water slide jump, with as many people being taken in as not. It’s a good fake, but a fake nontheless. Also recently posted is a video from a Bill Johnson conference. Johnson is a well known Christian evangelist who specialises in healing ministry. I know this film is true because I’ve talked to people who were there at the time.
The freeing of a convicted mass-murderer could yet bring down the Scottish government and possibly be the final nail in the UK governement as well. When convicted the press, media and commentators were united in their condemnation of Megrahi as the worst criminal of the generation. Yet over the years many have changed their view as evidence of bribery, witness corruption and the supression of evidence has been uncovered. And anyone who has seen David Blaine or Derron Brown in action knows you cant trust your own eyes!
So what do we believe if we cant trust what we see read or hear? Many have retreated into absoute scepticism and refuse to accept anything at face value…so we didnt land men on the moon and the the Holocaust becomes the biggest con trick in history. Others go on gut feeling and believe or not depending on how the mood takes them – or perhaps claim deeper knowledge based on their own intelligence or insight.
Three isolated events – how do you react to them? And, more importantly, why? I suspect that most of us will respond out of our own inbuilt prejudices, often without even knowing it. Becoming aware of our own prejudices is the first step to being honest about how we work and think.
