PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

February 12, 2025

FINDING THE GOOD FRUIT

Last year for Christmas I received a copy of Bill O’Reilly’s book Killing Lincoln.  In a style that reminded me of the old “You Are There” television program, O’Reilly narrates the story of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on Friday, April 14, 1865.  The book takes the reader from the final engagements between the forces of Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant through the hanging on July 7^th of Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, George Atzercdt, and David Herold.

Even though Killing Lincoln has received favorable reviews from historians, on sites designated to allow individuals to share their own takes on specific books, there has been a number of reviews that call into question the accuracy of the book.  There apparently has been a campaign to discredit O’Reilly’s book with the general public.  The campaign would seem to be motived not because people really think the book is inaccurate, but because they do not like O’Reilly and for what he stands.

Today, we have at our disposal a vast amount of information on almost any imaginable topic.  To access most of it one does not even have to leave the comforts of one’s own home.  What is available would seem to fall into three broad categories: verifiable facts, opinion, and propaganda.  The problem is in evaluating any particular piece of information as to which of the three categories it might fall.  How is one to separate the wheat from the chaff?

Over a long period of time a source of information that I have found to be reliable is the Diane Rehm show which is on NPR radio between 10:00 A.M. and noon.  In a civil, fair and courteous manner Diane seems to be genuinely concerned to explore the various topics that might come up on her show.  While she and I are not in the same political camp, Diane is a person who works hard to differentiate fact from opinion from propaganda.

While my own political philosophy is closer to Sean Hannity’s than to Diane Rehm’s, I find Hannity’s programs on the radio and television unreliable sources of good information.  No matter what the topic might be, Hannity always turns the conversation back to his standard talking points.  I find his information somewhere between opinion and propaganda.

A number of times Jesus makes the point that you can tell the quality of a tree by the fruit it produces.  “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit.  Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.” (Luke 6:43, 44)  There is a good likelihood that a tree that has borne good fruit in the past will continue to bear good fruit in the future and a tree that has borne bad fruit in the past will continue to bear bad fruit in the future.

Because of past experience I have an expectation that information gathered from the Diane Rehm show will either reflect facts or opinions concerning these facts.  Likewise, I have an expectation that information gathered from Sean Hannity will be a reflection of his talking points, falling somewhere between opinion and propaganda.

In trying to ascertain the reliability of information one needs do an assessment of its source.  In the past how has the source dealt with differentiating between facts, opinions, and propaganda?  From what perspective does the source offer information?  Does it have perceived biases?

A final comment.  Sometimes the best of sources can get it wrong.  Occasionally even a good tree can produce some bad fruit.  Always double check the information.

(This article was originally published February 12, 2012.  Comments may be sent to davidh15503@embarqmail.com.)