(Modern Problems / Ancient Solutions)
Denny Petrillo, Ph.D.
If we’re paying any attention to such things, we are keenly aware there is a war of words going on. Those of a particular conviction are quick to describe opposing views with terms that are derogatory and maybe even offensive. The term that describes this phenomenon is “false narratives.”
What are “false narratives”? One definition describes it like this:
A false narrative is a story about reality that does not match with the actual reality. A false narrative can be caused by insufficient or inaccurate information or assessment, or by shaping the story to elicit strong negative emotions. A false narrative can be a form of misinformation that is hard to detect and counter. 1
A perfect example of this is in the area of abortion. Those who are opposed to abortion describe themselves as “pro-life.” That term, however, is considered dangerous to those who are “pro-abortion.” They recognize that they may lose in the court of popular opinion, because who is not “pro-life”? So, they instead flood the airways and social media pages describing us as “anti-choice.”
Christine Flowers accurately describes this situation:
The abortion rights movement has been able to deflect attention from the actual nature of abortion by repackaging it first as “choice,” and then when that wasn’t working well, shifting to “women’s reproductive health.” They call people like me, who opposed abortion, “anti-choice,” and refused to use the term that we prefer, “pro-life.” They discouraged the use of the word “abortionist” and opted to use the more ambiguous “doctor” or “health care provider.”
For decades, it worked. Two generations of people grew up believing that abortion was a right, instead of a human rights violation. That’s why people were so shocked when Roe vs. Wade was overturned last year because they couldn’t believe that this benign right that they had taken for granted for almost five decades was exposed as the sham creation of a few elderly male justices. 2
The power of words goes way beyond the topic of abortion. Framing a topic in a certain way has been something that has been utilized ever since Satan told Eve that if she ate of the forbidden fruit, she “surely would not die” (Genesis 3:4).
There is considerable danger in what we are now witnessing across a broad spectrum of topics. One of the reasons fake news is so dangerous is it often hides under the appearance of a legitimate news organization. Recently, Stanford researchers conducted an 18-month study that evaluated middle school, high school, and college students from 12 states and their ability to assess the information they see online. The results were in their words, “bleak.” The researchers had hoped middle school students would be able to distinguish an advertisement from a news story, high school students would be able to recognize articles presented by a biased source, and college students would look at sources of articles that present only one side of an argument. “But in every case and at every level, we were taken aback by students’ lack of preparation,” said researchers.
The data was so alarming that researchers stated, “At present, we worry that democracy is threatened by the ease at which disinformation about civic issues is allowed to spread and flourish.” 3
Biblical Solution
The Jews during Jesus’ day had bought into “false narratives.” They were told that being children of Abraham guaranteed their salvation (Matthew 3:9; John 8:39). They also bought into a similar viewpoint regarding circumcision (Romans 2:25-29). They had learned these things from previous generations of rabbis. However compelling those rabbinic arguments were, they simply were not true. This is why Jesus, and later Paul, fought so hard against those dangerous viewpoints.
Today we are inundated with false narratives. Flowers goes on to say,
Beyond the abortion context, I have started to see crimes committed against language, with a view to creating false narratives. Those false narratives are then used to change society into something that is base, dishonest, and dangerous. Take, for example, the trans controversy.
It’s quite common to receive emails these days where the person provides his or her (or “their”) preferred pronouns. We are told that “trans women” are actual women, and that men can get pregnant. People tell us these things with a straight face, and if we laugh or protest, we are bigots. It is so bizarre, we now have a Supreme Court justice, Kentanji Brown Jackson, who is either unwilling or unable to define the term “woman.”
I know a bunch of third-graders who are apparently more aware than Justice Jackson of the difference between men and women. When I asked one of them the other day, she said this: “Women can be mommies. They don’t have to be mommies, but they can be mommies if they want. Men can’t, even though they can look like them.” I want to nominate that child for the Nobel Prize in Common Sense. 4
Jesus once described Satan with the following words: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies” (John 8:44). We will devote a future article to the subject of lying. But for now, we must be aware of the danger of false narratives. Christians cannot and should not be gullible to these narratives. Yet in some cases, even in many cases, they are. I am absolutely dumbfounded when so-called “Bible-believing Christians,” will buy into the rhetoric about “pro-choice,” and “preferred genders.”
So, what solutions does God’s word give us? First, remember that the Bible is the truth. We must hold fast to the conviction that the Bible is right, and always right. There are no false narratives in God’s teachings because it is impossible for Him to lie (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18).
Second, we must look at topics through a Bible lens. Before believing the narratives about “pro-choice,” “gender-affirming care,” “preferred genders,” “women’s rights,” and so on, we should look first at what the Bible says. Once we see what God has said, that “viewpoint” should be our “viewpoint.” We must learn to see things the way God sees them (Isaiah 55:8-9; II Corinthians 4:4-6).
Third, we must be continually aware of Satan’s work. We would be fools to think that Satan would not use gentle terms like “women’s rights” and “gender-affirming care,” to hide insidious doctrines and practices. Paul said, “we are not ignorant of his schemes” (II Corinthians 2:11). Is that still true?
1https://www.bing.com/search?q=false+narrative+definition&form=ANNTH1&refig=2fa0a4f155224f169316a5718a
3641e4&sp=2&lq=0&qs=AS&pq=false+nar&sk=LS1&sc=10-9&cvid=2fa0a4f155224f169316a5718a3641e4
2 Christine Flowers, “Some Words About Words.” The Patriot Post. https://patriotpost.us/opinion/98040-some-words-about-words-2023-06-13.
3 By Ho’oulu Staff, “The Real Consequences of Fake News.” https://maui.hawaii.edu/hooulu/2017/01/07/the-real consequences-of-fake-news/
4 Flowers, op. cit.
dpetrillo@WeTrainPreachers.com
