In what I can’t believe is being deemed a “post-truth” world–post-truth is even 2016’s word of the year!–words still matter. So does truth, that which is real, or that which corresponds to reality. (For you philosophers reading, I’ve always favored a correspondence theory of truth.)
I wanted to share some words of wisdom from Marilyn Chandler McEntyre’s Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies. I know, great and timely title, right? (Here at Amazon, here at Eerdmans.)
She makes this brilliant observation:
We are all called to be responsible hearers, speakers, and doers of the word. Still, telling the truth is something like an extreme sport for the very committed.
As I’ve preached through the prophets this fall in church, I’ve been struck by what an important role truth-telling played in the prophetic ministry. I plan to write more about this. For now, here’s more from McEntrye. (Added emphasis is mine.)
We have been talking about our responsibilities as stewards of language to use words carefully, precisely, and truthfully. I’d like now to consider a dimension of that responsibility that may be a little more challenging: the responsibility not to tolerate lies. It has become commonplace to observe, as I have several times in earlier chapters, that we live in a culture where various forms of deception are not only commonly practiced but commonly accepted. And most of us, at least some of the time, object — at least to the lies that vilify our party or candidate or misrepresent our causes, and at least to each other over coffee or Scotch — or we talk back to the talk-show host in the privacy of our cars. But I’d like to suggest that if we don’t take our complaints further than that, we’re part of the problem. Indeed, we bear a heavy responsibility for allowing ourselves to be lied to. As Pascal pointed out long before the age of media spin, “We hate the truth, and people hide it from us; we want to be flattered, and people flatter us; we like being deceived, and we are deceived.” The deceptions we particularly seem to want are those that comfort, insulate, legitimate, and provide ready excuses for inaction.”
I have a little bit of a hard time with “we bear a heavy responsibility for allowing ourselves to be lied to.” I think this is not totally fair, insofar as it sounds like a blame-the-victim response. But I’m not sure that’s what McEntyre means. Her suggestion seems to be that if we are truly lovers of truth, we will seek to root out in ourselves our tendency to want to hear what sounds good, even if it’s not factual.
I greatly appreciate her exhortation that in a “culture of lies” (or “fake news”=propaganda), we still need to practice “caring for words.”
Words on the Word 
I think that when lies are heard, you have a duty to call out both the liar and the lie. Doing nothing is irresponsible.
Thanks for the comment! Good point.