Checking Sources

Have you ever been online and saw a post that you just wanted to say “What the heck?!?” and then look at where it is from. There are a few really good satire or mock-news websites out there- one called the Onion, another called The Eye of the Tiber, and another one called Babylon Bee. The first one takes current events and makes up wild stories about them. For example, “Sugar industry shaped public opinion for decades” and then it makes up a story that only a true conspiracy theorist could believe. The second site is in the same vein but Catholic based, one of the people they talk about is “pope” Michael who is a mailman from Oklahoma City was elected “pope” in 1990 by six people including himself and his parents. The third one is an ecumenical Christian website that did an article about how a new version of “Operation” game is just figuring out which essential oils to use. All of these websites take things that some people would like to hear that then take it to the extreme of making it seem almost real. Sometimes when I read some of the articles they publish, I think that our real news agencies are really satire sites as well.

In the past, I have had some people contact me about things that they have seen on one of these websites and ask if it is true… no they are not! Where we get our information, and is there an agenda behind it, is something we should always ask about especially when it comes to information about the Church. Sometimes I hear things like “the pope is trying to change this or that” and then I go to the original statements or documents and I see that there was a comment made one way that was taken out of context or twisted to fit the narrative that they want to put across.

There are so many people out there trying to get your attention, especially during this political season. Politicians on both sides of the aisle are trying to get your vote and are willing to put out partial information to try to convince you. Politicians and Lobbyists are very poor places to get Church teaching because they usually seem to be more in line with their political party or agenda than the actual teachings of the Church. I am always amazed when I hear a politician state some Catholic teaching and then twist it for their own sake.

There are a few good places we can check the facts to make sure something is really a Catholic teaching; the Catechism of the Catholic Church is the place that I would recommend to start. So if something does not seem to make sense when you hear it, it most likely is not from a good and reliable source. I have a couple of good resources and trustworthy websites that I visit to make sure things that I have heard are the correct teachings. We cannot know everything, but if we know where to look to find the truth, we can learn anything.

God bless,
Fr. Ken