Catholic and Enjoying It!
A reader writes:
Yes, the Donner Party – the cannibals from the 1840’s? Apparently, it seems, from archeological evidence that they weren’t actually the cannibals that the Victorian media made them out to be. The survivors spent the rest of the lives being vilified despite their protests that they never resorted to eating each other – just some cows, horses and, sadly, even the family dog. But we know all too well that scandals sells newspapers so the myth was allowed to continue and grow into some really bad books and movies.
It only took 145 years or so for the science and real truth to come out about them. How long do you think it will take for us? I think we’ll still be here 150 years from now, don’t you? Unless, of course, Jesus comes back!
The way journalism works is to scream some ill-established claim in unison loudly enough and long enough that the mass of humanity that only has time to glance at a headline receives it as a Scientific Fact.
Then, a century and a half later, when the Fact turns out to be crap, the task of the journalist is to say, “You see? History is bunk, therefore was cannot even be sure if Jesus existed. Say! Did you hear that the Pope is a Nazi pedophile? Oh yes! It’s true! All the media are reporting on it! It’s been in the New York Times for weeks!”
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