“It is the absence of facts that frightens people: the gap you open, into which they pour their fears, fantasies, desires.” — Hilary Mantel, “Wolf Hall”

“The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.” — Proverbs 12:22

An interesting meme floating around the internet says something to the effect of, “God is bigger than facts.”

That’s true, but not in the way the person I saw sharing the meme seemed to mean it.

Certainly, God can change the facts whenever and in whatever way he wants, but that doesn’t mean, as the person posting that meme appeared to imply, that facts don’t matter.

It seems clear to my amateur reading of scripture that God cares a great deal about facts and truth. He told us in his 10 commandments not to lie. Jesus called himself the truth. Scripture lists the belt of truth as the first part of the armor of God.

In my mind, few things matter more than facts.

In any given dispute, the truth exists, no matter how much we argue. Whatever happened happened. Whatever something is it is. Whatever someone did they did.

Disagreeing with, disliking, or ignoring the truth can’t change the truth.

Those who speak or act contrary to the facts do so at their own peril. Our words or actions can’t destroy the truth, and the truth will always come back to bite you, eventually, even if it doesn’t happen until Judgement Day.

So it worries me greatly how much we still disagree over verifiable facts. We disagree over the existence and cause of climate change. We disagree over what happened on Jan. 6, 2021. We disagree over the outcome of the 2020 election. We disagree over American history. We even disagree over whether the Earth is round.

Even more discouraging: Our opinions on most of those things diverge along partisan lines, Republicans on one side, Democrats on the other.

America has become two nations occupying one land mass, and current affairs and our nation’s history tell us that can be a dangerous thing.

Things could get even worse as we head into the silly season, with Republicans’ Iowa primary caucuses kicking off the presidential election in just nine days.

Expect candidates on every side of the aisle to stretch the truth, to try to contort the facts to meet their own needs. In many cases, the candidates will ignore the truth all together and flat out tell you lies, sometimes even manufacturing data to try to get you to believe it.

In our fractured media landscape, with conservative and liberal outlets posing as unbiased truth-tellers, expect numerous “reporters” and the pundits they put in front of the cameras to echo those stretched truths and outright lies.

Expect those untruths to pop up in your social media feeds, the more salacious lies gaining the most steam thanks to tech companies’ irresponsible algorithms putting rockets on the most divisive content. People you know and respect will espouse conspiracy theories.

Cut through the crap and focus on the facts.

Think like a journalist.

To responsible reporters, the more fantastic the claim, the more proof is required. When you see something that seems hard to believe — especially something you want to believe — dig deeper.

Have other outlets or other sources independently confirmed the story? Does the story come from a source that clearly and publicly corrects its mistakes? Does the reporter name his or her sources or at least tell you why he or she granted sources anonymity? Did the reporter at least attempt to get all sides of the story, getting a response from anybody accused of wrongdoing? If the story’s posted online, does it include links to or embeds of documents or other sources from which the reporter gathered information, so you can check out those sources for yourself? Has the outlet been proven right in the past? Does the reporter state clearly what he or she doesn’t know and why he or she doesn’t know it?

If you can answer “yes” to all or at least most of those questions, there’s a better chance you can believe the story.

If the answer’s “no” to most of those questions, tread with caution.

Facts matter. They represent reality.

If you act off untruths or even half-truths, reality will someday come home to roost.

So, this silly season, focus on the facts. Don’t buy the politicians’ spin or the pundits’ parroting or social media’s salaciousness.

Stay rooted in the truth.

And vote accordingly.