Pope: Adam and Eve banished from paradise because of fake news

Фото: Depositphotos

On January 24, the official website of the Vatican published a message from Pope Francis dedicated to World Social Communications Day, a holiday established by the Roman Catholic Church (this year it will be celebrated on May 13). Francis dedicated his message to fake news. It says that the first in history to spread false information was the tempting serpent, who convinced Eve to pluck fruit from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, writes “Medusa«.

Below is a retelling of the Pope’s message.

The term "fake news" means spreading false information in the media and social networks. Fake news is created for the purpose of manipulation of people and spread because of the lust for power. Often they are based on prejudice and specially made so that they are difficult to distinguish from the real news. The worst thing about fake news is that because of them, people become enemies.

The serpent from Genesis was the first to spread fake news. From it began the story of the fall of the people. The serpent addressed Eve with words that were only partly truthful: “And the serpent said to his wife: Did God truly say," Do you not eat from any tree in paradise "? In fact, God forbade the eating of fruits from only one tree in the Garden of Eden. Eva corrected the snake, but succumbed to his provocation: "And the wife said to the snake: we can eat the fruit from the trees, only the fruit of the tree, which is among heaven, God said, do not eat them and do not touch them so that you will not die." Eve allowed the cheater to deceive herself. "And the serpent said to his wife: no, you will not die, but God knows that on the day on which you eat them your eyes will open, and you will be like gods knowing good and evil." The order of God was broken because of the temptation into which Eve introduced the enemy: “And the woman saw that the tree is good for food, and that it is pleasant to the eyes and desirable because it gives knowledge; and took her fruit and ate; and she also gave to her husband, and he ate. " This biblical episode proves that there is no harmless lie, on the contrary, even a slight distortion of the truth leads to terrible consequences.

The language of lies can lead to clouding of the inner world. That's what lies говорил Dostoevsky in the novel “The Brothers Karamazov”: “The listener who lies to himself and his own lies comes to the point that he really doesn’t distinguish between himself or himself, and therefore he enters disrespect towards himself and others. Not respecting anyone, he ceases to love, but in order not to have love, to occupy himself and entertain, he surrenders to passions and coarse sweets and goes all the way to bestiality in his vices, and everything from uninterrupted lies to both people and himself. ”

The best antidote against lies is people who are ready for a sincere dialogue and responsibly treat their words. If the answer to the distribution of fake news is a responsibility, then a significant burden falls on the shoulders of journalists. In the modern world, journalism is not a job, it is a mission. Journalists should remember that the essence of information is not the speed with which it spreads, nor its influence on the audience, but people. Informing others means forming others, being connected to the lives of others. That is why reliability of sources is a means of spreading good and trust in the world.

“I would like to ask everyone to call for the journalism of the world. By this I do not mean journalism that refuses to admit the existence of serious problems or looks like sentimentalism ... On the contrary, I mean honest journalism that opposes lies, rhetorical slogans and sensational headlines, ”concludes Francis.

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