Is the news you’re consuming trustworthy?

What distinguishes a serious and reliable person from one that isn’t? It often depends upon the credibility and trustworthiness of their beliefs. 

That’s because it’s not enough to adopt a position. The facts, evidence and information which brought you to those conclusions, must be compelling, backed by honest sources and devoid of all personal agenda.

Sadly, in today’s world, that has stopped being the case. At this particular moment in time, when political polarization has turned family and good friends into bitter enemies, predicated on each believing that their side bears the accurate and verifiable truth, opinions often devolve into a feelings-based position, rather than one which wholly rests upon facts.

To illustrate this phenomenon, a new report published by the AMCHA Initiative found that the BDS movement (boycott, divest, sanctions) as well as the accusation that Israel is perpetrating a genocide in Gaza, both stem from university speakers and department heads who espouse such positions.

In other words, the vast majority of antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment on American campuses is fueled by agenda-driven academics. This was discovered only days after the October 7 massacre when “12 campuses sponsored events or issued statements accusing Israel of genocide. Every one of those was led by a senior official who had publicly supported an academic boycott of Israel prior to October 7.”

Taken as gospel, by uninformed students, manipulating their positions didn’t require much work. That is because when anyone chooses to outsource their thinking, without challenging what is being put forth, especially if it involves damning accusations against the Jewish people and their nation state, becoming easy prey only requires laziness and a predisposition to believe a lie.

Becoming a willing accomplice, by parroting whatever superiors say is the truth, doesn’t go against the conscience of someone who is happy to accommodate the narrative that is being pushed. In fact, without their contribution, it’s possible that the lie would never get enough traction to have the damaging effect that it eventually has.

What is becoming clearer by the day, is that dishonest academics, political leaders and those in positions of influence are actually counting on a generation that has decided it can’t be bothered to research the validity of what they are being told.  

Social media has facilitated a false sense of trust that if a celebrity, someone in power or a viral personality has publicly stated something, then it must be true, and it must be believed. Today’s oddity is the lock-step uniformity that has been adopted by young people who only feel safe in groups.

Gone are the days when being unique, going against the tide or holding an unpopular opinion was admired and thought of as cool. It’s almost as if bucking one’s peers is seen as a betrayal or rejection of social acceptance. No one is willing to do that anymore.

Which is why it’s so simple to hoodwink Gen Z-ers who have abandoned individuality, in favor of being a cohesive bloc. And while unity is ordinarily a very positive attribute, in the case of today’s youth, there is no question that much of their belief system is based on lies and fabrications.

Again, that is largely due to their sources of information. When 45-55% of them turn to Instagram, 34% get their information from X and another 43% from TikTok, all platforms whose agenda is highly unreliable and often politically-driven, is it any wonder that their belief system is terribly flawed?

Reinforced by their biased educators, whose Marxist and Woke viewpoints are the forces behind the libelous smears of the Jewish state, is it any wonder that Israel constantly gets a bad rap? 

It’s almost certain that none of those professors have ever visited the only Democratic country in the Middle East. Of course, it goes without saying that they have not spoken to IDF leaders or have been embedded in Gaza as honest journalists such as Douglas Murray has.  

If anything, they have formulated their positions based on the skewed word of terrorist claims, disingenuous human rights organizations, doctored photos, erroneous footage of outdated conflicts and staged clips, all meant to advance the lies that are meant to represent the truth.

Once that stash of curated falsehoods is disseminated and amplified over and over again, minds and hearts are made up. Some, because personal research is not valued or seen as essential. They just can’t be bothered. With others, it could be that they have already been predisposed to believe that Jews are evil, accepting the ugly characterizations to which they have been exposed about a race of people that is being viewed as the worst of humanity.

Either way, the outcome is the same. What they have come to believe is all based on lies and defamation. The moment they are convinced, defending the false claims are no longer necessary, because, in their mind, enough of their peers accept the same philosophy and worldview, manufactured by untrustworthy sources.

In short, their hatred has been created from unsubstantiated and deceitful fables, all with the intent to injure, destroy and cause harm to the good name of a country whose people are devoted to blessing the rest of the world with the extraordinary gifts they have received by their Creator.

But here’s something work considering. While young people are much more susceptible to the lies and manipulated information which is available through social media and their peer groups, each one of us also has to consider the sources to which we turn when consuming news.

Is it agenda-driven, reported in a way that favors one outcome? Or is it basic information, given for the purpose of allowing each person to draw their own conclusions, even directing them to do their own research? How important is it for your point of view to be accepted by others? Would you be willing to stand alone and be mocked if your opinion differed from your friends or family?

It’s important to ask ourselves these questions, because only then can we know just how reliable our belief system really is. Because we can only make correct moral judgments which have been based on verified facts. 

Anything less will plunge us into the same category as the ill-informed students whose belief system of a genocide being committed by Israel, originated from the word of dishonest academics, who hoped to brainwash and indoctrinate rather than educate.