Yesterday I was visited by a neighbor who was violently incensed by the news that Planned Parenthood was killing babes in order to sell the baby parts. She insisted that the video exposing this horrendous activity was absolutely true (you could tell because when people said words their lips moved). A rational discussion of the origin of the video and how that organization was known for highly editing their films to match their agenda was dismissed. A discussion of the current state of film editing was rejected since only crooked politicians did things like that. The level of discourse (in terms of vocal intensity) grew and grew until doors were slammed and feelings were probably hurt.
The last thing I heard was that we could never say “God Bless America” any more because God would never bless a country that allowed and even funded the killing of babies (which only God can create, of course) and the selling of the resultant baby parts.
This altercation emphasized to me the power and efficacy of out-and-out lying, or as Mark Twain is reported to have said,
The history of our race, and each individual’s experience, are sown thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill and that a lie told well is immortal.
This morning I found this excellent response to the fake but obviously effective story accusing Planned Parenthood of evil deeds:
A Celebration of Reading 