Fact Checking Doesn’t Matter

A remarkable statement was made a few moments ago on my favorite Sunday morning, or perhaps anytime, news program This Week with George Stephanopoulos. I’m not sure but I think it was made by a favorite reporter Cokie Roberts. The statement was, “Fact checking doesn’t matter.”

Here I spend a great deal of my time fact checking because I think it is so important for folk to have accurate information about politics and religion, and now it is said, “it doesn’t matter.” Now I am not going to stop doing all my fact checking but the truth is the statement is probably correct. As the man said, “My mind is made up, don’t confuse me with the facts.”

The other truths of political and religious promulgation that fear is more important the reason, and most folk make up their minds about issues based upon what their parents said and believed. It is a bit like the most important predictor of marital success has nothing to do with the couple values, who they work through issues, sex, money (though those are the biggies talked about, but they are symptomatic rather than predictive) is whether their parents had happy marriages. The data on happy marriages in case you are interested follows a standard bell curve; 7% of couples are very happy, 14% are happy and then there is what follows.

No, people treat politics and religion, as I have often said, more like ball games, car preferences, tractor preferences, and the preferences of their immediate predecessors: Once a Packer fan always a Packer fan; once a Ford buyer always a Ford buyer; once a John Deere owner always a John Deere owner; once a Republican always a Republican; once a Roman Catholic always a Roman Catholic.

Perhaps some of that is less true than before as tractor companies have come and gone and combined (though Deere remains); the most American car you can buy today is a Toyota Camry; and religion no longer even gets mentioned in the newspaper and TV unless there is a scandal going on in this post-Christian age.

None of that stops me from fact checking, expressing my political and religious beliefs. I have bought more types of vehicles than I can remember totally lacking product loyalty. I could give a toot about almost all athletic pursuits. The only think I remain strong about in my family tradition is being a Presbyterian though for far different reasons than my parents.

With those realities in mind I will keep on blogging, talking, debating and reasoning with folk to search for common truth. That is the point of debate you know; well, it should be even if most folk don’t realize it.

I look at it basically from a religious belief standpoint; God always makes sure there is a faithful remnant to carry on the message. Whether it is conceited or humbling to think so, I seek to be a part of that remnant.

God calls us to be faithful rather than popular. Though a little popularity of thinking, reflective politics and religion would be a good thing me thinks.

Excuse me, I have to go to church.