Truth?

Muddy waters, not too favorable to swim in, as the clear pristine oceans and white sandy beaches seem to be the areas dreams are made of. Also, instead of muddy interpretations of events used to push an agenda, people do tend to like news as it was meant to be, or as I thought it was meant to be anyway, unbiased presentations. 

At one point in life, I recall Saddam Hussein and Bill Clinton's feud presented from the news as the midst of a war. As a child then, never did I think that what could be reported was merely an interpretation or one side of a truth. I never thought a lie  interpretation, could be so prominent.

Nonetheless, I find people's views and why they hold these views and to how far they will go to reinforce these views, fascinating. Lets look at what I see Muslim Terrorists are depicted as: evil people, who hate America so much that they will kill themselves in trying to destroy us. Here is how I see the American mainstream media: pushing an agenda they believe in so much that they will distort truth to get it across. 

Sure, one used "killing" and "evil," and "destroy," when the other used "distort truth" and plus, we are on the side of winning, so whatever the cost right? I mean, we have to believe in what our side is doing for us to be willing to sacrifice our livelihoods, our lives even, to defend. Without that severity in conviction, America would be nothing more than a gathering of people, and the whole, "united" idea gone. 

Truly the greatest nation ever. It's up to us to keep it that way. 

At what cost though is the presentation of an agenda starting to actually corrupt the nation within? Like, at what point does our civil protests, our strong disagreements, due to feeling lied to, and our strong sense of unity to a smaller party get pushed too far where the entire foundation crumbles? The funny thing is that I see no difference when a person follows up in what they believe at the cost of others whether it is in killing or in deceiving. After all, the devil never killed Adam and Eve in the garden, that would have actually reinforced God's resolve of man's purity. Instead he deceived, questioned the very foundation on which the forbidden fruit was established. 

Martyrs all over the world die for their beliefs and in their death, life is produced. To see people dying for their convictions is the utmost sacrifice one can give, the same one God sent his son to do for the man he loved so much. For in death, a message is passed along to the living more intensely than in life. Would we rather die standing up for our beliefs, or running away deceiving the world of our strength? Would we rather have our kids know we died in a crash crash giving a homeless guy a ride to the clinic or picking up a prostitute due to moms unwillingness for certain things? 

Strength, power, integrity. 

In other words, the agenda I see or attempting to persuade based on beliefs is one that I feel will cause more destruction than just being honest. The truth is supposed to speak for itself, so just like when a kid is told drugs are bad, only to do drugs and see that they feel good, being told half-truths decompose the very agencies that were once held dear. No matter the network, CNN, NBC, Fox News, probably others, I personally find the messages despicable in their representation of what was supposed to be the truth. 

Again, they are not sending their reporters to a church with a bomb strapped to their chest to prove a point, but at times, the deceit and resulting lack of faith afterwards can convolute the message so much, that in the long run it could actually induce more harm. 

The truth does speak for itself, and I believe we all still hold truth as the most-valuable of items. With that I will leave with the only truth I know: 

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.  - 1 John 3:18.