Truthers, Birthers, Deathers, Doubt-everything-ers . . .

When I first heard the jokes, I had a nagging suspicion that it would soon be spouted with deadly seriousness--"Osama bin Laden isn't dead," or so say the "deathers." Look it up; their websites are up and running. (Well, maybe not. Actually the deathers may not really exist. Their presence on the web might be a conspiracy concocted by alien fugitives from Rozwell.)
What if--as at least one of these websites requests--the bullet-riddled body of the bearded terrorist were put on display, online as well as in the decaying flesh? I have no doubt that ten minutes later another site would be up and running. The "Medders" would claim that this body is not that of the famous terrorist. In reality, they would solemnly claim, these are the remains of Achmed Murphy Steinbaum, a New York cabbie who recently died in gang-war crossfire.

The Truthers were mainly regarded as wackos, at least in the United States. Most of us who watched the events of 9/11 on TV find it incredulous that this was anything other than what it appeared to be--a terrorist attack. A couple of years ago, though, I stood in a Mosque in Kazakhstan and listened to a totally sincere cleric explain why 9/11 wasn't really 9/11. He also told me, by the way, that Neil Armstrong had converted to Islam. Check it out. The Birthers, with their mega-rich, Donnie-come-lately spokesman got enough traction that our President found it wise to produce his documentation. (Though, the documentation needs to be documented.)

OK, I didn't just fall off the turnip truck. I am aware that big lies have been perpetrated. I know that with today's technology, the ability to spread and support such falsehoods has never been greater. I see in the scripture that monstrous lies will be foisted on humanity (2 Thessalonians 2:11).
I'm concerned, though, about living in a land, or world, where every pronouncement is considered false until proven true (with affidavits signed in blood--certified to be that of the signer), and every explanation is considered a conspiracy. A very old joke asks, "Do you know how to tell if someone is a communist?"
The answer went: "You ask them. If they say,'No.' then they are communist, because they always deny it."

I fear that Thomas is being elevated to chief of the Apostles.
I see a coalition forming, and I'm not sure I like it. Some of my more intellectual friends say, "You believe that?" How naive." My more radical associates say, "You're buying that? Here, have some more cool-aid." The cynical among us--with the burn-scars to prove it--can not only point out the "lies" but point to "where this whole thing is headed." The coalition is formed around the certainty that we are being lied to. That seems to be the one truth that isn't doubted. No one is trusted. Doubt is elevated to the chief of virtues.

I'm not just picking at the wacko-fringe of our society. I have a serious question: Can a culture long exist when the mortar of trust is reduced to the sand of doubt and cynicism? And more important: What can God's people do to restore trust in our relationships?

It's STTA.