Let's be honest, everyone has biases, so let them be good ones.

There is a false maxim that says, “Perception is reality.” But the 18th century philosopher, Immanuel Kant said, “All perception is colored by emotion.”

What is bias? It’s a predisposition toward one set of ideals or conflict with others.  Everyone has biases. I have them, you have them. Yes, you DO! We all have them. Some are good, others, not so much.

Even Jesus had biases. What? “Balderdash!” you may say. Hold on and consider this.

Christ was biased toward ultimate truth and righteousness–toward Almighty God. In everything He said, and in everything He did, his focus was unified–to do the will of God and to teach others to follow Him in this. That put Him in direct conflict with those who interpreted the Law to suit their own interests. We have many folks who are doing the same in our time.

So, let us not get offended by words, but rather, let us learn to master them. Okay? Great.

Biases become dangerous in direction and magnitude–when they lead to what is not good, right and true . A bias toward truth is good. But a bias toward untruth or half-truth is not. Biases toward life and freedom and justice are good. But biases toward death and tyranny and lawlessness are evil. A bias is most dangerous when it’s extreme and in a bad direction.

The reason I mention biases is to encourage you to recognize and evaluate them consciously in order to choose sources of information that have good biases and avoid those that do not. Listen carefully to all, but examine every word.  Each person’s biases will become clear if you listen closely. Mine will become evident as we go along.

Can someone be biased toward one thing without being biased against another? In many cases, Yes.

In fact, in the interest of honesty, I’ll confess some biases I have right now. I’m biased toward dogs rather than cats.  I don’t hate cats, I simply like dogs more. Because I’m a U.S. Navy veteran, I’m biased toward the Navy, but not against the Army or Marines or Air Force (even though “wing-nuts” are pansies).

I’m kidding! Please don’t send me hate emails.

I’m also biased toward justice and against lawlessness because lawlessness is dangerous and destructive. So, the point is for you to recognize your own biases, question whether they are good or not and also, whether they are too extreme. Then, you can change them and move into a better place.

A bias in favor of truth and in opposition to lies and half-truths is a noble and worthy goal. 

Now, to address the elephant in the room....

Political bias in news reporting is never a good thing, but it is a fact of life today. The role of news media is to report facts without color or flavoring as much as is humanly possible. Pure, undistorted news reporting is rare in America today.

ABC’s late news anchor, Peter Jennings used to speak about “framing the story.” It was simply a euphemism for distorting the facts to fit his own liberal atheistic world-view.  His successors have grown more and more radical in the same direction.

To review, biases are not all bad. And they cannot always be avoided. But recognizing bias is an important tool for determining whether or not a media outlet’s bias sufficiently distorts the accuracy of what is reported.

Good-bye for now. Which reminds me, “Good-bye” comes from the 16th century greeting, “God be with ye.” Isn’t that lovely?