A couple of weeks ago my Facebook feed was filled with two stories that were at best dishonest. The The first dealt with a Dutch teenager with severe depression who wanted to die. The story was that Dutch authorities approved her euthanasia. The second dealt with allegations of animal cruelty at a large dairy farm in Indiana. The initial reaction of those posting these stories was outrage, which as become the default response in this country.
In the case of the Dutch teenager, it is true that she wanted to die and did apply for euthanasia. However, her application was denied. The Dutch authorities did not help her die. A good source of accurate information can be found here. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/06/05/noa-pothoven-media-got-dutch-teens-euthanasia-death-wrong-rape-right-to-die/1355269001/
It did not help that many "reliable" sources got this story wrong.
The Indiana dairy story outlines cases of animal abuse. What is lost in this story is the fact that the employees were fired as soon as the these cases were brought to the attention of management, and that the organization who collected the film had an agenda that would insure that the farm would be shown in the worst possible light. In fact the organization did not inform management that the abuse was taking place, other employees informed management and those committing the abuse were terminated. Abusing animals is not the policy of the dairy, and in fact animal abuse reduces farm profitability because it increases costs and reduces productivity of the animals.
What You Can Do
First think before you post or share. If a story seems to be too extreme to be true it probably is. Second, look for additional collaboration. This is getting increasingly difficult as news sources increasingly reference each other without doing their own investigation. Nonetheless, there are websites that engage in fact checking and are good resources for debunking fake news. Third, an emotional response to a story is seldom helpful. Social media does not give a person license to act as judge and jury on each an every story.
Finally, give people the benefit of the doubt. If a person, institution, or firm is accused of something it deserves the opportunity to explain its side of the story.
One of the finest theological exposition of the Ten Commandments can be found in Luther's small catechism. His question and response to the commandment on lying is well worth remembering.
We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, [think and] speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.
Isn't that what we would want if we were accused of anything?
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