Christian Science Monitor – Don’t take the (click)bait

Today Tessa Parmenter published an article on the Christian Science Monitor website addressing how we can overcome the pull of sensationalized news through understanding that there’s a higher power we can rely on to inform our actions. The article explains:

It’s clear that if we want fake news to stop, we can’t pay it any heed or reward it with page views and click-throughs. We can’t blindly click on or accept what we’re presented with – the same way we wouldn’t want to click on a computer virus or attachment in an email from an unknown sender.

Yet this goes beyond a mere exercise in self-control. What had a more lasting effect in my experience was a deeper understanding of where real impulses come from. Are we programmed to take the bait, or is there a higher driving force we can rely on to inform our actions?

I find it interesting that the Lord’s Prayer given in the Bible by Christ Jesus addresses this issue with the line “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13). He says not only is there a higher power that is “Our Father,” as the first line of the prayer indicates, but that this power delivers us from temptation and evil. Clearly, a power that leads us away from evil must be evil’s opposite – good. And this good must then guide us to know what is right – what is good.

For a full view of the article on https://www.csmonitor.com, please click here.