Since this is a peacemaking thread, let me take it back to that theme: we are surrounded by hundreds or thousands of claims about politicians people want us to hate, and a lot of these claims are not true. These days, checking facts is easier than it ever has been. But people keep repeating these claims without checking the facts, and sometimes even get offended if you check the facts for them or ask them to provide evidence.MaxPC wrote:My wife saw Obama say it last September before Trump won, so no, that link does not apply.Jazman wrote:Does this fit the narrative you're trying to build with a snippet you heard? Watch: President Obama On Trump Win, Clinton Loss
Effectively, we've said that slander and libel are fine, but asking someone to back their claims is not. We've said that people should not get in the way of spreading hostile lies about other people. If we want to be peacemakers, we can't spread vicious lies about other people. Part of that is being vulnerable to facts so we know which things are lies, and not insisting that something is true if there is not good evidence.
Let's face it, as humans, we often think we saw things that we did not see. At a family reunion, people sit around remembering doing something together, and we each remember it a little differently. Someone gets convicted of a crime based on DNA evidence, then DNA evidence proves they were innocent.
I recently talked to someone who had heard Donald Trump back when he said that if he were to run for president, he would run as a Republican, because They're the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything on Fox News. I could lie and they'd still eat it up. But he did not say that, and groups like Snopes research these things and tell you whether it happened or not.
I think a little humility about what we know and honesty when confronted with facts is an important part of peacemaking. Of course, vicious truth can be just as bad as vicious lies. We need both civility and truth.
