Do You Unknowingly Spread Lies?

I received an email today that has been forwarded and forwarded and forwarded for two years. Who knows how many thousands if not millions of people have seen it, read it and passed it along. It has photos captured during a demonstration. The photos are real, not photo shopped, not tampered with, not enhanced in any way. The text, however, is not at all accurate. It is slanted to portray a certain perspective and to illicit outrage. It is quite successful in that regard. It is racist, it is politically biased, and it is motivated by hatred and fear. If anyone had bothered to Google it to check some facts, they would have learned very quickly that the story attached to the photos was more than inaccurate. It is an urban legend.

Beliefs can be blinders. Beliefs vibrate at a frequency that draws to you more of the same. If you believe a certain thing you will draw to you evidence (true or false evidence) to validate your position. If you are a bigot, a racist, a fearful patriot, you will be drawn to newscasts that amplify your position so you can feel right.

Here's a hint: Bill O'Reilly is an entertainer, not an unbiased journalist. Rush Limbaugh is not a journalist, he is an entertainer. Randi Rhodes is not a journalist, she is an entertainer. If you want to know facts, don't rely on the media. Our current media just reiterates and regurgitates whatever comes across their desks. There are no true journalist anymore. A real journalist gets facts, checks them, double checks them and reports them without personal bias. Today it's about sound bites, graphics and ratings.

Please people, check your facts before forwarding emails that will illicit more fear and hatred. What we need now is hope and change and a fierce determination to differentiate the truth from the lies.