Father Myron J Pereira sj
It’s become commonplace to say that “we live in an information age,” so great is the plethora of news, advertisements, financial data, and personal messages that bombard us day and night, 24/7.
In this, we are so different from our parents and grandparents.
Our forebears may have had a telephone at home and may have subscribed to the local newspaper, but most certainly, they didn’t have that little gizmo in their pockets—or clutched in their fists—which hooks them to the world day and night and without which they would be naked and helpless.
Yes, this is what the smartphone does. It connects us to the world.
And so versatile and omnipotent is its use that everyone, but everyone, must have one. Infotech at its cheapest and most universal.
Science, truth and information
But information is not knowledge. Knowledge or science is systematic and processed, the result of study and research. Science proceeds through patient experiments and hypotheses, is formulated into laws, and struggles to reveal the truth about ourselves and our world.
Thus the laws of gravity, for example, govern the relationship between physical bodies on this earth, just as the laws of biology regulate the nature of our body and the various systems of which it is composed.
But information is not knowledge. Knowledge or science is systematic and processed, the result of study and research
They are “true” because their orderly functioning gives us harmony and stability. We call the disorder in our bodies “disease” and in the environment around us “storm” or turbulence.
This is what truth gives—harmony, energy, stability. Its essence is a deep and unshakeable correspondence with reality.
Not so information, which collates and organises its data in an attractive and appealing way, mixing fact and fiction. Its prime quality is not truthfulness but availability.
Now, with information technology of various kinds literally at our fingertips, its speed, volume, and intricacy are endless.
But with infotech, truth is not a value; connectivity is. Information provides this connectivity.
The Jesus picture
Let’s take a simple example. What would you say is the most famous face in the world?
Surely, it is the face of Jesus Christ, seen in millions of Christian homes and churches and depicted by multiple artists throughout history.
And yet, realise that this face is entirely the product of imagination and fantasy. Sacred scripture tells us almost nothing about how Jesus looked, about his physical deportment and demeanor.
Not so information, which collates and organises its data in an attractive and appealing way, mixing fact and fiction. Its prime quality is not truthfulness but availability
In fact, largely because of the recent European history of Christianity, the face of Jesus is depicted as more Scandinavian—blond and blue-eyed—than Arab, which is how Jesus probably looked!
So, pictures of Jesus are not true; that is, scientifically verifiable. But neither are they false. More accurately, they are fictional and their appeal is not to our minds, but to our hearts—that is, our fantasies and our longings.
Does this depiction make any difference to the devotees of Jesus? Hardly.
The picture of Jesus that stimulates our imagination is meant to lead the devotee to a position of total surrender [what we call prayer] to the deity.
To use a modern expression, we are “empowered,” and prayer, rightly understood, empowers.
This brings us to another important point—the meaning of faith.
The role of faith
Faith elicits from the believer a total engagement, a total trust, irrespective of whether the object of this trust is true or not. When one prays, one enters into this attitude of trust and surrender.
Can prayer, can this attitude of total surrender, be wrongly understood? Indeed, it can, when one traffics in untruths, falsehoods, and lies, when one embraces the swirling mass of information uncritically and does not verify.
Can prayer, can this attitude of total surrender, be wrongly understood? Indeed, it can, when one traffics in untruths, falsehoods, and lies, when one embraces the swirling mass of information uncritically and does not verify
Thus, for example, the millions of Americans who recently voted for Trump “believed in him” even though they were quite aware of his lies and the immorality of his character.
One may say that their uncritical but vibrant faith rejected the truth or considered it irrelevant.
This is why although information is important and is the bedrock of social interaction, it can never substitute for the truth. In fact, information can deceive and mislead by its very volume and its sophistication.
“But we saw it on TV!”
“The only way to get a lie believed is to repeat it several times until it is.” To place all one’s trust in a dictator like Hitler, or a master manipulator like Trump, marks the beginning of a tragedy.
What does all of this say to men and women of the 21st century who pride themselves on being “well-informed” through their communication and social media?
It says, first of all, that most of the information they consume through their various channels are half-truths or outright lies. It is disastrous to build one’s life on such slogans
It says, first of all, that most of the information they consume through their various channels are half-truths or outright lies. It is disastrous to build one’s life on such slogans.
But how does one build on the truth?
Pilate’s cynical question to Jesus, “What is truth?” [John 18.38] reminds us that the truth is usually uncovered after much searching, painful enquiry as well as great persecution. It almost always goes against the “conventional wisdom,” which is society’s way of keeping people deceived and subservient.
“The truth will set you free,” says the gospel. Is it any wonder that so many are still in bondage?
*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCAN.
