During a recent sleepless night, I stumbled upon a rerun of a 30 for 30 on ESPN. Trying to find something to fall asleep to, an episode on the Hillsborough soccer stadium tragedy did just the opposite. This riveting documentary made me begin to wonder what other events from history have been sanitized by a convenient absence of the truth.
When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, Matthew 28:12.
On April 15th, 1989, soccer fans began to flood a standing room only section of the Hillsborough stadium. As space to stand started to disappear, a mass panic ensued causing people to press toward a fence shielding fans from players on the field. This chaos was complicated by a lack of reaction by stadium officials leading to the deaths of 96 people.
Telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep,’ Matthew 28:13.
In the hours and days that followed, authorities using the media as a pawn began to assign blame. Like modern day talking points, alcohol, drunk fans and crude behavior served as window dressing to hide the actual facts of this disaster. Justice took over 20 years to arrive when original police statements and those altered by government officials were posted side by side on the internet. This is just another example of corruption inspired by a convenient absence of the truth.
If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble,” Matthew 28:14.
This strategy is nothing new as even Jesus dealt with a similar scheme to redefine his own resurrection. As Jewish and Roman officials tried to squash Jesus’ growing popularity and message, a plan was devised to change public opinion. There was only one problem with this decision, Jesus spent 40 days in public after rising from the dead. According to Luke, Jesus was seen by over 500 eyewitnesses serving as a first century Drudge Report.
So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day, Matthew 28:15.
Today, if you click on the internet, turn on the television or tune into talk radio, don’t blindly believe the first thing that you hear or see. Rather, remember that a few elite media members control the daily narrative presented to the airways in America. Essentially, what you see isn’t always what is actually happening. Therefore, as a new election season approaches full of ads steeped in embellishment, do your own homework before you reach a final conclusion. If you don’t, you might be the next victim, deceived by a convenient absence of the truth.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 