21 Jul 2018

Pink Elephants on Parade...?

Elephants playing in the mud; Selous Game Reserve (Tanzania)
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 by Laura Marie Piotrowicz
       Recently, on social media, I saw a number of posts about elephants and rhinoceroses. They had bright pink tusks, as though someone had dipped them in paint. The premise is great - by dying the tusks pink, the black market collapses, the poachers leave the animals to live happily ever after.
       The challenge: a simple fact check indicated that this was not accurate. (see: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rhinos-elephants-getting-pink-horns-prevent-poaching/)
So while it seemed great, and sounded plausible, and fits with our personal preference (who doesn't want elephants to be safe?!)... hitting "share" may not actually be helping. At times, we might be playing into someone else's agenda, for good or for ill. (see https://www.facebook.com/RCMPKindersley/posts/1955807267988185)
       I trust that we want to share good news, to spread happiness, to extend care - especially in Christian community! Yet while we can't help what we hear, we are responsible for what we decide to share or promote. When we click on a post from a highly political party, no matter what it says, it shows support for that source. When we forward a story, we are promoting it. When we do this without doing a little bit of research, we are attaching our name - and our reputation and credibility, to that story.
       If it's genuine; wonderful. If it's not however; our best intentions can backfire significantly.
       This is not limited to our social media time, either. In community, we share news and stories as we share our lives and faith journeys. Which is fine, most of the time. The challenge begins when we forget to fact-check first. If we share a medical diagnosis that we heard as a private prayer request, then a very personal matter has become public knowledge - and relationships can be fractured. If we misunderstand part of a story and fill in our own blanks, then a very different 'truth' might be broadcast - and trust breaks down. If a hardened heart won't address concerns in the church but then criticizes the leadership in public - the community as a whole suffers. If an accusatory question is posed in an unrelated gathering as a means to plant seeds of doubt - the accuser's agenda to discredit becomes a group effort.
       Or: if we hear about a successful medical procedure, we might call the patient to offer our best wishes. If we learn of a forthcoming life change, we can privately check with those involved, and let them share their good news (as it's not our story to tell). If we hear of an opportunity to pray, we can take it to God, not to the gossip chain. If there is gossip happening around us, we can choose to ignore it, to not continue it, to tell the gossiper that we don't like the practice.
       It's not always easy; but as we would not want to be the one stories were told about, as Christians we should not be ones telling tales.
       A quick way to consider: would Jesus be happy for me to share this news?
       If yes: spread the good news!
       If no: we should break the chain and let the story end with us. 

       Otherwise we end up following a long line of pink elephants - stepping into whatever they might leave behind.



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