Saturday, November 15, 2014

You Can't Believe Everything Your Read on the Internet

You can't believe everything you read on the Internet!  Duh, right?  But when someone makes this statement to you, don't you feel a bit insulted? I mean, it is tantamount to saying, "You can't use sufficient discernment to properly conduct research in a library."
After all, isn't that what the Internet essentially is?  A vast library?  Who would ever say, "You can't believe everything you read in a library?"  That is just a given, but it doesn't mean that a library is useless for gleaning information that is valid.  
Research is something that is thought very highly of in our culture as evidenced by the fact that it is an intrinsic requirement for acquiring any college degree, and is the penultimate requirement for a PhD in the form of a dissertation based upon...wait for it...research!
Ok, I realize that one can scour the 'net and find supporting evidence for just about any cockamamie concept, valid or not.  But that doesn't negate the value of research, nor research using the internet.  Discernment plays a big part in gleaning useful information.  I like to think that, particularly after obtaining a BS in Chemical Engineering, that I have been properly and thoroughly trained in doing research resulting in valuable insights.  Sadly, I am inconsistent in my ability to function as a researcher on a regular basis due to chronic illness, however, on occasion I do have an aspergian obsession that launches me into rabbit trails that reveal great finds of information that benefit me and that I attempt to use to benefit those that I care about, although all too often I hear, "You can't believe everything you read on the internet," and I experience the curse of Cassandra!
Wouldn't it be more accurate to just say, "You can't believe everything...period!" ?  And in that event, why waste one's breath to make such an obvious statement unless you are speaking to a child?  
But, HalleluYah, there IS one place you can go, one source you can read, where you CAN believe everything: YHWH's Word, The Scriptures!  It is actually the only fully credible source, though even there one must study to ensure that the translation of the inerrant original is accurate.  It is important to refer to the Hebrew meanings and idioms to get the Truth and not an anti-Semitic interpretation, for example, which is all too common.  Don't let even your pastor who went to seminary for years and years be your final 'go to'.  Think for yourself and RESEARCH.  We are commanded to study to show ourselves approved, and this is not a mere suggestion.  I am so thankful for the ultimate research tool, Scripture, and to have the ultimate library, the internet, to shore up my understanding of Scripture's Truth!  I don't think this was happenstance, wink, wink!