Faith leaders: Don't believe the hype from federal authorities as people die

In 1988, Public Enemy released the song “Don’t Believe the Hype,” which warns of being bamboozled by false narratives coming from the corridors of power. It speaks of the peril of being ignorant to the truth. Today, this message is more important than ever. We live in a day in which the seeking of truth seems to have become a forgotten value and the difference between truth and lies has been blurred by those promoting their own power.

We see the distortion of truth daily from the golden Oval Office and the crowd of false witnesses attending it without ever voicing criticism. The administration is cavalier in its repetition of hype, be it about false crime reductions under federal watch in Washington, false assertions about affordability or repetitions of fictitious election claims so blatant we all know them as “the Big Lie.”

We see the distortion of truth too often in the media and elected officials. These are dark times for the media, when misinformation and disinformation are as rampant as a mentality that equates “bias” with stories one side doesn’t like, as former journalist Dan Rather explains. In recent months, one of the four major TV networks has drawn increasing scrutiny for political decisions made in place of editorial judgments. And two of the four major networks have laid off journalists of color disproportionately since the 2024 election, diminishing the aperture through which the news is reported.

We also see the distortion of truth from pulpits that have chosen to compromise their holy books out of fear because they have bought into the blurring of truth. We saw this during the COVID-19 pandemic; we witness this today with too many Christian leaders promoting the great replacement conspiracy theory.

Yes, this intentional distortion of the truth, “the hype,” has become the norm; unfortunately, truth has been put on life support. This surrender to the hype has allowed narratives to demonize individuals and entire races of people, legitimized mistruths and stereotypes, allowed character assassination to become acceptable, sanctioned the weaponization of religion and authorized killings.

The hype is deadly. Just ask the families of Renee Good and Silverio Villegas González.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/25/opinion-hype-donald-trump-administration-lies-renee-good/

Don't believe word out of this so-called "government"!