It’s the presidential election year here in the U.S. We are only a couple of months away from election day.
If you turn on your TV to find the news, you will most likely get one of three kinds of agendas.
Liberal agenda – From CNN, MSNBC, etc.
Conservative agenda – From Fox News, etc.
Religious agenda – From EWTN, etc.
You cannot find unbiased news. In fact, many newspapers officially endorse presidential candidates. It’s nearly impossible to find objective news.
Everyone looks at the news through their own paradigm, sees only the things they want to see, and reports only the kinds of things they want to report, in hopes that the kind of change they want to see will happen because of their reporting. Their news is a crusade in disguise.
No one comes to the table empty handed. Everybody has preconceptions and biases. We don’t want to put up with the truth. We accuse others of falsehood and yet are the first to do the same things. Instead of seeking the truth, to suit our own desires, we gather around us a great crowd of people who say and believe what we want to hear. It becomes not about the revelation of the truth but about who can gather the largest crowd around their own point of view so that they can win the debates and the election.
The sad truth is that it’s not only happening at the national level, it’s happening in our own individual lives. Each of us has preconceptions and biases formed by our past experiences. They color the way we see the world. We also tend to associate with people who look like us and believe what we already believe, not necessarily people who stand for what is right. What we hate when we see on national television is often only a reflection of what we are as individuals.
Yet, I believe all hope is not lost. We can take a candid look at ourselves. Examine our motives and look for our own biases and preconceptions. Acknowledge them. And take intentional steps to mitigate them when we relate with people. And we must commit to doing right even if we find that other people are bending the rules and taking short cuts. Bending the rules because they are doing the same doesn’t lead us anywhere. It may be a while before truth wins, but the truth always wins. Always.
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