President Biden’s notice not to run for re-election was a highlight of one of the most eventful and historic months in American politics in recent times. The decision was made after various political leaders And Celebrities publicly and privately expressed their concerns about his age and abilities, although Biden’s decline had long been obvious. In the end best attempts The First Lady’s performance couldn’t disguise what everyone saw during Biden’s first (and last) presidential debate.
Yet politicians, prominent donors, and the Biden family insisted the president was fine long after the opposite was obvious, right up until his decision to withdraw. It is unreasonable to assume that most of these voices did not know any better. They clearly believed they could continue to twist reality even when their claims contradicted the obvious.
In an era where digital technologies can manipulate information in unprecedented ways, this kind of public gaslighting has never been easier. Take, for example, the Decision from the Department of Veterans Affairs to ban the famous “VJ Day Kiss” photo from Times Square. After asking that the photo be removed from all facilities so the victory kiss would not fuel “trauma,” the VA quickly denied ever sending the memo due to public backlash.
Or think of how the NFL handled Alicia Keys’ Superbowl halftime performance earlier this year. When Keys a completely absurdKeynote speech, Fans commented on this on social media and posted it there immediately. However, when the official video of the performance was posted on YouTube the next day, there was no trace of the wrong note.
Likewise, the attempts to cover up Biden’s decline demonstrate how the ever-changing and endlessly editable nature of the internet is making telling the truth increasingly optional. BBlurring the lines between true and false, as government officials are always prone to doing, has never been easier than it is today, whether in the form of doublespeak or even rewriting history in real time.
But even the best digital technology can only obscure the truth for so long. In fact, the same technology that is used to mislead can also be used to reveal. And that is exactly what happened at the first presidential debate. As founder and editor of The free press Bari White put it: “In the Age of X, there is no gatekeeper or censor powerful enough to obscure what we can see with our own eyes. You can’t hide reality when everything is visible.”
Perhaps Uncle Ben’s warning to Spider-Man is just as true of the immense possibilities of the digital age: “With great power comes great responsibility.” It’s clear that we are not using our digital power responsibly, and that’s one of the reasons why public trust is being lost so catastrophically in our age. The more deceptions are exposed, the more cynical people become about anyone who claims to be telling the truth.
According to Weiss, there is only one way to overcome this catastrophic loss of truth and thus of trust:
Stop arguing, stop lying, and stop being condescending. Apologies are also appropriate. The people who have misled us with noble lies and obfuscations must admit the damage they have caused.
That is certainly a good start. Christians can also pray that our leaders will remain faithful to the truth and not get away with deception. More than that, in an age such as ours, God’s people should be a notable exception, or, as historian Tom Holland put it, “odd” in the sense that we are committed to the truth even when everyone else abandons it. Indeed, if we are to be faithful to the One, we must Is the truth.
The Breakpoint was co-authored by Jared Hayden. If you are a fan of Breakpointleave a review in your favorite podcast app. For more resources on living as a Christian in today’s culture, visit breakpoint.org.
