John Bolton, the National Security Advisor for President Donald Trump, says that Iran has laid mines, and hit some Saudi ships ( May 28, 2019 ). How do I know that this true ? Is it true or is it fake news ? And is it all true or is it somewhat true, and it is somewhat false. Iran and Saudi Arabia both exist, and that is true . These kind of reports are out their all the time, trying to influence public opinion.
During the build-up to the War in Iraq, the idea was to find weapons of mass destruction. We ( and this includes Canada ) went to war because the case was made that Saddam Hussein had them hidden somewhere in the country. Colin Powell, the Secretary of State in the U.S. , made the case for the Iraq War by showing the movement of weapons through satellite images. He showed the pictures to Congress and to the United Nations. They were not what he said they were. They were trucks with trailers driving around rural Iraq. But, the world believed it, and we went to war ,and we are still at war with somebody in Iraq. Colin Powell, a respected military man and a diplomat, lied to the world, or his bosses lied to him, so we could go to war.
But, how could we know anything different because he showed us those satellite images ? I did not have other images to show the world. No one from the Democratic Party in the United States had images to contradict what what supposedly true in those pictures of Iraq. The powers of the Empire ( that is the United States ) had all the pictures, it had CNN and it had all the newspapers reporting on what General Colin Powell had told us as true. Truth did not have a chance.
So, how do I know what I know ? I am a spiritual/religious person. How do I know about God, Jesus and the Spirit ? I am a Christian spiritual person , so these concepts are important to me. I have not seen the three persons of the Trinity. I have not seen any of them at all. But, I believe.
I have the Christian Bible to help me understand how people experienced God. But God seems to be saying different things to different audiences in both the Old and New Testaments. I think I have a good idea about Jesus because there are four different biographies. But they do not quite line up in the right ways to have a coherent story about Jesus. I think it invigorates my faith when they do not have the same timeline or geography. But, this is just me writing and thinking.
I have a hunch that I have faith in the living God of Jesus Christ. I have faith, but not certainty.
In 1968, the United States said that North Vietnamese torpedo boats shot at a U.S. ship in the Gulf of Tonkin ( off the coast of Vietnam ) . There was no images, no cable news, no Google or Facebook and no newspapers on the Internet to verify the event. And it would not matter if all of these social media had been there. The U.S. went to war with Vietnam over this incident, that now, has been proven to be false. A disastrous war ( and all wars are disasters ) ensued, and both countries were severely damaged by the war. The US has not confessed to the untruths that they told to themselves and to others.
I have a hunch ( and believe ) that God will be my guide in all news, and events and life. This is what I believe. How do you know if something is true or not ? What is your hunch ?
Ponder Anew 