July 22, 2024

If one has a poisonous tree of lies growing in an orchard of truth, there are two ways he can deal with it.

One is to slowly and meticulously examine one branch at time, proving its identity and harmful effects beyond any shadow of a doubt, before chopping it off. This method will ensure the least disapproval from scientists, philosophers, lawyers, academics, cynics, and others who cast aspersions.

The downside is that, during all this time, many branches of poisonous lies will continue to sprout and contaminate his field. He might even come to unwittingly eat from its fruit.

The other method is to acquire reliable ways of identifying the tree that short-circuits the need for a detailed analysis, and then just uproot the whole accursed thing. The slow, detailed analysis can be performed afterwards by others to validate the “hunch” of the wise, experienced farmer, without allowing the poisonous tree of lies to grow and spread.

Hashem gave us divinely reliable ways of protecting our orchards from poisonous trees, and our wise, experienced teachers clarified and transmitted them to us. Woe to us for not using them. Woe to us for allowing our orchard of truth to be overtaken by a forest of poisonous lies.

The following Torah teachings are indispensable in discerning truth from lies, without need to dissect every deal of the lie before forming the proper conclusion (if even then).

1. A known liar and others whose integrity is highly suspect (as outlined in Jewish law) are disqualified from rendering testimony.

If we only accepted this principle, which is entirely logical even without a divine seal of approval, we would be saved from so much trouble.

You know the smooth-talking people on television are liars without a shred of integrity. Why would you still trust them? Why would you even listen to them at all?

You know the media is filled with lies. You might even know by now that the media exists primarily to manipulate you and distract you with lies and deception. Why would you continue to turn to the media for “news”, information, and “analysis”?

Many people even start their day with this – not with prayer and Torah study, but with a heaping dose of lies, which they supplement throughout the day lest their mind ever have a chance to clear.

How can anyone invite liars to fill their head with lies and spin day after day and expect to remain unaffected?

There are many Jews, for example, who know that the New York Times and other such publications have a long history of distorting the facts about Israel and Torah-observant Jews. Nevertheless, they continue to trust the same people when it comes to other matters. They fully accept that these people are malicious liars – not merely sloppy and misinformed – when it comes to Israel and Jews. Yet they also believe that these known malicious liars would not lie to their audience about anything else – certainly not “science” – and should thus be given the presumption of credibility until proven otherwise.

Is this not insanity?

It is certainly against the Torah's guidance.

The same is true with media that “support Israel”, too – even “religious” media. They lie to you even more effectively, because you trust them more for “standing on your side”.

It doesn't take much to earn people's trust these days. Just tell them what they want to hear on an issue that matters greatly to them, and you can get away with murder.

The same is true when it comes to government officials, authority figures, “fact-checkers”, and other “experts” whose statements are treated as the last word. Do they have a history of lies and deceit? Is their integrity highly suspect?

If so, they are disqualified from giving testimony, and their declarations of fact are null and void.

We must be willing to reconsider many things that we took as “established facts” and “proven science”. If they are predicated on nothing more than the testimony of liars and others unworthy of our trust, there is no further need to disprove every branch of the tree that sprouted from the original lie. We can just yank out the whole thing.

This will be slow work, but at least let us not allow liars to continue to plant poisonous trees in our delicate orchard.

2. Bribery blinds the sagacious and makes crooked the minds of the righteous (based on Devarim 16:19 and numerous other sources).

This simple principle as well would shield us from so many dangerous lies, if only we kept it firmly in mind.

The Torah is not warning us merely about bribery in the form of cash-filled envelopes and offshore bank accounts. Chazal warn us that even the most subtle forms of bribery are enough to sway a person's heart, and our sages were careful to recuse themselves from cases in which they received even the slightest, most innocuous favor from one of the litigants.

How can we give any credence to scientific “studies” that are funded by corporations and agencies with the most obvious conflicts of interest?

How can we trust doctors and other “experts” when they are little more than paid spokesmen for drug companies and other corrupt agencies?

How can we trust members of the media who would instantly lose their careers – and possibly much more – if they investigated certain stories or “conspiracy theories”?

How can we trust “influencers” who literally receive incentives to influence us?

How can we trust front groups (like JOWMA, Bring Them Home Now, and many others) that were created and funded to infiltrate our community with “culturally specific” propaganda?

How can we trust media that are paid to do the same not only with obvious advertisements, but propaganda in the form of “news” and feature stories?

How can we trust people with huge social media followings based on their adherence to a particular ideology (“right”, “left”, “supporting Israel”, “supporting Trump”, etc.) to be capable of objective thought, when doing so would torpedo their life's work, and even their livelihood?

How can we trust rabbis who receive funding from those who wish to sway their minds, whose career and livelihood may even depend on satisfying these people?

How can we trust rabbis who literally work for the government?

How can they trust themselves?

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There is an even more subtle and sinister form of bribery that few recognize: the ways in which we bribe ourselves.

How many of us care more about social approval than our very health and wellbeing?

How many of us showed themselves to be more afraid of being called names than the consequences of being injected with something unsafe that deep down they didn't want?

How many of us were quick to sacrifice close family and friends who dissented to maintain approval from the collective?

How many of us were quick to offer up our children's bodies and souls, for the most dubious of reasons, to maintain approval from the collective?

How many of us continue to “serve” in the army, and offer up their children's bodies and souls to the army, no matter how dangerously “incompetent” or downright treasonous those who give orders prove to be?

How many of us would sooner follow orders to enter a death trap against all reason than defy authority and be ostracized by his peers?

How many of us fear social disapproval from their neighbors who serve up Molech offerings, and expect you to follow suit, more than the specter of being maimed or killed for no good reason?

How many of us belong to a generally homogenous social group and value our acceptance in this group above almost all else? How many of us reflexively conform to the expected way of “thinking”, and behave in lockstep with those around us, without daring to question, let alone deviate, for fear of retribution?

Is this not all bribery?

Does this not all lead to blindness and crookedness of the mind?

If someone's position on a matter is influenced by bribery, we must suspect that his judgment is tainted.

If our own position is influenced by bribery, or fear of social retribution for defying groupthink, we must suspect the same.

We have a lot of poisonous trees of lies to uproot. This principle will make that work a lot easier, and protect us from planting new ones.

To be continued...