The Age of "Information"

To anyone who is reading, no, I'm not Brother Hank with an identity crisis. I happen to be a friend of a friend, and he enlisted me to help provide an occasional blog through a mutual friend. So for any innocent readers, that just means that now you'll have to suffer through multiple peoples' often incoherent ramblings!

I came across a website today that just reminded me of the irony that is that internet. In the "Age of Information" that we now live, it has never before been so easy to have access to knowledge from a variety of perspectives, which it seems would lead to the widespread perpetration of truth. And yet, ironically, it seems that despite this universal access to billions of websites, truths are found boring and forgotten while lies and rumors spread like wildfire. I read an article today where some research center studied the growing use of terrorists using the internet to spread propaganda. According to them, "more than 6,000 Web sites that raise money for terrorist groups and teach related skills, such as bomb building."

While technology continues to grow at an exponential rate, it seems that we end up with smart bombs but dumb kids, precision guided missiles but hopelessly misguided youth across the globe. And in this "Age of Disinformation," as I often think of it, it has become all the more essential to stop looking on the internet, the best sellers list, or even a church pulpit for the truth. Ultimately, even well intentioned people are people- imperfect people, often with their own agendas, and while I try to be an optimist, I'm sad to admit that it often seems that well intentioned people are the minority these days. In John 14:6, Jesus says, "I am the truth, the way, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me." So while I may be a technological junkie when it comes to some things (after all, I've blogged before when blogging was a word only known in internet chat rooms), I think I'm going to opt for the good old fashioned (and yet never out of date) book, The Bible. Moses had his burning bush, and praise Jesus, we still have one too in His written word. And with that, I think I’ll call it a day and end my first blogging experience in a couple years. Hopefully it has been as relatively painless of you to read as for me to write.