Theologian and cultural commentator Albert Mohler this week issued a warning about a “flood of disinformation” around the U.S. election, saying the Christian community has a responsibility not to spread it.
“I think our Christian reputation can be very much on the line about this,” Mohler said on Monday’s edition of his podcast The Briefing, his daily podcast about the news.
The president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., Mohler, warned of a “flood of disinformation and manipulation” surrounding the election, which pits Republican nominee Donald Trump against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for the White House.
“I’m not blaming one side or the other,” he said. “I’m simply saying there’s going to be a lot of disinformation -- some of that disinformation we now know is being planted by Russian agents and others, international motivations, to destabilize American democracy.”
Social media, he said, often is not a reliable source of news.
“People can post anything on social media,” he said. “... And so, I would just encourage you in a way that is a bit more urgent than at other times -- be careful to source anything before you take it for certain, for granted, or for true.”
Mohler suggested that “you shouldn’t take anything as true if the source of that has no skin in the game, no reputation at stake, and, frankly, can’t be traced to anything that is authoritative or responsible.”
“I’m not saying just trust the mainstream media,” Mohler said. “I think you know me better than that. I am saying let’s be very careful. I wouldn’t trust any kind of unusual report coming from any source written by anyone who can’t be fired if it’s wrong. I certainly wouldn’t run with anything that’s reported by an anonymous post because, as you know already, anonymous comes with no responsibility.
“In this kind of context, there’s so much at stake, [and] we all need to take responsibility for what we receive and what we pass on,” he added. “That’s true for all citizens, but it would seem to be particularly true for Christians.”
Photo Credit: ©Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.