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Al-Jazeera, Britain’s BBC, and many Australian news channels reporting on the rescue of four Israeli hostages, emphasised the Palestinian deaths, implying Israeli soldiers deliberately targeted Gaza civilians.

Reporting casualty numbers supplied by Hamas, and failing to acknowledge the truth of hostages being held in residential buildings, has highlighted the bias of many media outlets.

Has the United Nations Betrayed Its Mandate?

On 24 October 1945, the United Nations was born.

The United Nations is a diplomatic and political international organisation whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and serve as a centre for harmonising the actions of nations.

For around 75 years the UN has been admired for upholding its mandate. Showing up in the world’s trouble spots, initiating famine relief, peace talks, education programs and so much more. Now there seems to be an extraordinary bias in their activities. They are obsessed with condemning Israel.

Where is the condemnation of China in their genocide of the Uyghurs, or the persecution of women in Iran, the starving children of Yemen, and so on? There is a fixation on Israel, insisting it fight this existential war to a higher standard than any other army, and take responsibility for feeding and protecting its enemy.

The UN and its agencies, particularly the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, have made blatantly untrue claims about how Israel is defending itself.

Is the UN really focused on peace, security and harmony, or has it been overrun by extremists peddling their own destructive ideologies?

Propaganda is Nothing New

As Nazi Joseph Goebbels is alleged to have said: “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.”

In an in-depth 2016 BBC article, “How liars create ‘an illusion of truth’”, feature editor Tom Stafford describes several university experiments to try to determine whether a person is more susceptible to lies if they are repeated often.

Thankfully, after examining many different scientific studies, although they found lies could mask the truth, they found that if a person had already verified truth, the oft-repeated lies were less likely to influence them to change their view.

Our minds are prey to the ‘illusion of truth effect’, because our instinct is to use shortcuts in judging how plausible something is. Often, this works. Sometimes, we are misled.

“Once we know about the effect, we can guard against it. Part of this is double-checking why we believe what we do – if something sounds plausible, is it because it really is true, or have we just been told that repeatedly? This is why scholars are so mad about providing references – so we can track the origin on any claim, rather than having to take it on faith.”

Do we too easily accept what we read and hear?

In our busy lives, we often don’t take time to check the facts. We hear the oft-repeated claims of propaganda, and we accept what we hear as the truth. We don’t have time to check for ourselves. And the information, or misinformation, is coming at us from all different directions.

News reports are often veiled in deep-seated antisemitism, and without realising it, we may find ourselves accepting and then repeating their bias.

Part of guarding against the illusion (of truth) is the obligation it puts on us to stop repeating falsehoods. We live in a world where the facts matter, and should matter. If you repeat things without bothering to check if they are true, you are helping to make a world where lies and truth are easier to confuse.

The Debate about Moral Clarity

Each society sets ethical boundaries for what is acceptable or unacceptable behaviour. We then shape our laws accordingly, taking into account our cultural traditions. This enables us to coexist because we have a shared understanding of what is right and what is wrong.

In Australia, our history and traditions are based on a Christian worldview, which informs all our institutions, rule of law and way of life.

In our democracy, we are privileged to be able to express our outrage when we believe these boundaries have been crossed.

Furthermore, we expect our leaders to support the rule of law and denounce the crossing of ethical boundaries to which the majority of us have agreed.

Despite the influx of people of many different nationalities, religious and cultural traditions, if you reside in Australia, you are required to accept Australia’s legal system and respect our way of life. If our leaders and institutions fail to uphold the rule of law and protect our cultural heritage, they can expect pushback at the ballot box.

Sadly, the rise of antisemitism, anti-social behaviour, as well as violence of pro-Palestinian protesters, is challenging the very fabric of our social cohesion.

This is the second great shock to our cultural norms. During the COVID pandemic, we experienced many situations which crossed the ethical boundaries we accepted as normal. The result was an alarming increase in mental health distress.

The strain of moral ambiguity on mental health is significant. Ethical dilemmas and the pressure to make the ‘correct’ choice can lead to stress and anxiety. Achieving moral clarity is not only about societal harmony but also about individual mental well-being. It is about finding peace in one’s moral decisions, reducing internal conflict and fostering a sense of inner harmony.

So, where can we find the truth?

When Jesus was on trial, He challenged Pilate:

“The reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.
Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me.” (John 18:28-39)

Pilate asked Him: “What is Truth?”

I often wonder how that question was phrased. Was Pilate being cynical, or was he genuinely puzzled? It’s more likely Pilate was shrugging his shoulders and thinking: “Who cares?”

For our mental and spiritual health, we need to pursue the truth. It matters. To each of us individually, our families, our communities and our nation.

Jesus gives us a wonderful promise in John 8:31-32 —

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

For our and our nation’s mental, spiritual and physical health – truth is vital. In this world of chaos, misinformation, lies and deception, let’s all pledge not only to pursue but also to propagate the truth.

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