OPINION
Knowing vs. Believing: A Call for a Return to Truth
Life in the Post-Truth Era hasn’t worked out so well
Many pundits pin the beginning of the Post-Truth Era on the moment Kellyanne Conway, Donald Trump’s then-senior advisor, introduced the term “alternative facts” on January 22, 2017, as she defended then-Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s false assertions about the Trump inauguration crowd size.
Spicer claimed that the crowds were much larger than photo evidence showed. The President, Spicer, and Conway pushed a narrative that crowd sizes surpassed previous inaugurations for reasons that continue to puzzle most of the nation. And so began a presidential administration filled with falsehoods peddled as “truth.”
But the truth has been slipping from our grasp for a long time.
Maybe it’s because we have muddied the concepts of “knowing” and “believing.”
Faith is belief
Everyone is familiar with religious faith — whether we subscribe to one or not. I was raised Christian, in an evangelical tradition. I attended an evangelical school, which pushed religious tenets into every academic subject and elective (yes, even physical education). We were indoctrinated…
