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- Cynicism in the Age of Disinformation…
Cynicism in the Age of Disinformation…
Last updated on: September 6, 2018 at 3:02 pm by Andy Gill
Cynicism in the Age of Disinformation… 2018-09-06T15:02:34-05:00 Andy Gill
Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.
“Trump polices [sic] destroy lives, his racist rhetoric emboldens hate groups and his constant stream of lies undercut the moral fabric of society. His policies target widows, orphans and aliens, literally the same people scripture repeatedly says we as Christians are supposed to help.”
– Jim Meisner Jr. [1]

I mean, have you ever tried to find the hidden agenda of a politician? It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack; it’s usually just not worth your time or energy.
Plus, who is going to dive headfirst into a haystack with the knowledge that there’s a needle somewhere in it.
No thanks.
What’s even more soul-destroyingly devastating is when you find that at the end of all of this, we weren’t even searching in the right haystack. We were just being distracted and misdirected into fighting against a straw man.
Being angry about imaginary concepts, it’s like chasing the wind.
Is cynicism the new norm we’ve just come to accept?

[2]
Cynicism, it’s toxic.
It’s tough to not be cynical in today’s day and age when collectively our conscience is being warped, deceived and/or misdirected.
You can’t not be cynical if you’re not intentional.
It’s the very parasite that slowly but steadily eats away at your faith, hope, and security.
“And cynicism is also a kind of faith: the faith that nothing can change, that those institutions are corrupt beyond all accountability, immune to intimidation or appeal…”
– Tim Kreider
Personally, I found myself expending far too much energy on watching my back, tiptoeing around trying to not step on any eggshells, all the while constantly adapting to our ever-changing culture where the rules and societal norms are moving so fast they’re just one large ambiguous blur to us all.
But, in my opinion, what’s worse than cynicism is indifference… It’s the question of how one can live in a world in which inundates us with negativity but still yet, remain open to beauty, creativity, etc.
If you ask me, the beginning of our end usually happens at the point of which we normalize the abnormal (e.g. government monitoring our emails and phones, collusion, police brutality, voter suppression, etc.)…
Think about it, how numb have we collectively become towards “mass shootings”?
It’s as if it’s become “the new norm.”
How do y’all curate the environment you experience (without, necessarily, unhealthily disconnecting from your surroundings)?

[1] “The Irony of Evangelical Idolatry in the White House” by Jim Meisner Jr.
[2] Screenshot from Netflix Trailer for the movie “Get Me Roger Stone.”
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