blurred lines and liminal lives: imaginary and real

On Facebook today, there was a post about the new Pope’s brave reformation of the Catholic church, concluding by summarizing his position in the desirability and immanent dawning of the day when a woman could be Pope. It took someone else to point out to me that this was not real news, making me shake my head at the depth of my obtuseness–not reading this with instant recognition that it was internet hoax news. This is really interesting–news as not just selectively offered but imaginary. Who wants to be caught quoting Will Ferrell and his Anchorman, but here I go: news defined as the exercise of giving people not what they need to know but what they want to know. In this case we hear of a third Vatican council completing the work of Vatican 2. Utopia of sharing and tolerance. When I first read this all-good / great-news announcement,I simply accepted it as news.Then I noted the corrective comment about the announcement being created internet story–virtual world news. The point of disconnect is fascinating! Our children have grown up in a world of information and false information. It must be difficult for them to choose what to listen to and how to discriminate amongst sources. No wonder rules governing plagiarism have weakened. I wonder if words like “honesty” and “truth” are not just being conceptualized in broader and softer ways, but if they may actually be sea-changing in meaning.

[link]http://entertainment.vacancynigerians.com/2013/12/shocking-there-is-no-hell-fire-adam-eve.html

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