Wake Up, Look Up

Hello everyone, and thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we look at events happening in real time through the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch, and in today's episode, we're asking the question, do dying conspiracies make a sound? This is prompted by an editorial piece I read recently in the Wall Street Journal looking at a Michigan Attorney General, Dana Nestle, who's charging five non-citizens with voter fraud in the 2024 election. Now, this is relevant for a lot of reasons. For years now, conservative conspiracy theorists online have been arguing that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from President Trump and that there's rampant voter fraud, especially in blue states. What makes this interesting is Michigan is a blue state. The Attorney General of Michigan is a Democrat, and of all the media outlets I read, the Wall Street Journal is probably the most conservative bent, at least of national publications. And that's why this story is so relevant. Because in a place where conspiracy theorists say voter fraud is not taken seriously by party that they're told is not taking it seriously, voter fraud is being prosecuted in Michigan by a Democratic Attorney general. Five people being charged with crime. In fact, they underwent an entire state audit of the 2024 election and identified 15 non citizen voters. That's out of 5.7 million ballots. A small number, but albeit a specific one. 15 people were discovered and and now 5 are being prosecuted. 22 cases also remain under review. Now, this is a painstaking process going through 5.7 million ballots, looking for fraud and then finding the fraud, prosecuting the fraud. It is a labor, but it's a labor done by someone who's taking it seriously. And I say all that to say this. Conspiracy theories run rampant in our society and they spiral people out of control. They'll lead to arguments that actually harm families, that break relationships and erode trust in public institutions. And here's what I think is interesting. The oxygen that a conspiracy theory gets online is antithetical to the oxygen the stories that disprove it get online. In other words, you go online talking about voter fraud, millions of views. Will anyone even know this happened in Michigan? You see, in Michigan, they're saying, you're right, there is some voter fraud. Because we looked at all the ballots and we found maybe 22 instances and they're prosecuting it. But that of course means more often than not there isn't voter fraud. That when there is voter fraud, it's caught and prosecuted. I just say this, Proverbs 18:17 says it this way. I love this. Says the one who states his case first. Seems right until the other comes and examines him. In other words, anybody can come along and with no one debating them, make a case that sounds compelling until someone else comes along with the actual facts. Look, conspiracy theories are real. They've been real. I mean, there are actual conspiracies that have been proven to be true throughout history. Psalm 2 says, the kings of the earth gathered together to make their plans against the Lord and his anointed. That's an admission there are conspiracies. The Book of Esther is about a conspiracy theory to kill the Jewish people. There are conspiracy theories, but my point is there's not as many as the Internet makes you think. And the ones that get disproven don't ever seem to get talked about. if you are on the Internet chasing one conspiracy theory after another, ask yourself, have you ever had one that you look back on and say, man, turns out that wasn't true. Turns out I was wrong. And if you haven't, then maybe you need to start to form a conspiracy theory about your own conspiracy theories. Maybe the only one conspiring is you and your friends on the Internet who can never be wrong and are the only ones who see the truth. Maybe we need to slow down a little bit and let the facts determine our opinions instead of the other way around. Remember, as always, Jesus said, the truth will set you free. Sometimes it takes a little while to get to the truth, but eventually, often, not always, people get there. The question is whether you're ready to admit it when they do. Hey, thanks for checking out Wake Up, Look Up. For more content, be sure to visit the Christ Community Chapel app or website cccchapel.com.

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