do you believe spin?

The ‘spin-doctor’ is one of the most dangerous people around. He [or she] can give words just that wee twist which suddenly changes the way we understand the truth of the situation to be. They have managed to alter the way we think. Normally we, ordinary, people are too busy to care, but a nation’s whole future can be at stake. In the early 80s a South American dictator took power, promising to stay for a year. After 12 months he staged a televised rally and said, basically, ‘Oh well, all right, then, I’ll stay’!

This type of spin is called ‘astroturfing’ –what seems to be genuine is actually artificial. Astroturf is not real grass.

‘Spinning’ is not new, of course, but it is eating into our everyday lives as never before. Let me give you just a little example.

During the recent holidays we had the occasion to stay in one of those travel lodge-type places. They really filled a gap in the market and were great for families seeking competitive, comfortable, clean and convenient short stops, en route to wherever. You got a few little luxuries thrown in. To these ‘Cs’, this particular one has added another: cost-cutting – only, their bumph dresses it all up as ‘less is more’. Some examples from their literature.

Q: why don’t you give us loads of towels? A: You get 2 towels. But we must constantly review operating costs in order to deliver highly competitive pricing. And reducing the amount of laundry benefits the environment.

Q: why no bathmats? A: people slipping on bathmats causes 1000s of accidents each year.

Q: why no heated towel-rail? A: Hot towel rails cause burns. We don’t want to take that risk with our valuable customers!

Q: why can’t you call reception from the room? A: providing a concierge-style service is expensive. We reckon that for the sake of a short walk to the reception desk customers would rather enjoy our great-value low room rates.

Pretty cynical, eh?

Customers depart, fitter from all that walking to the reception desk, glad in the knowledge that they’d helped save the environment, and thankful that they hadn’t fried to death on a towel rail or got injured slipping on a bathmat. The lowered standards are matched only by the low intelligence we are believed to have!

‘Spinning’ in all its forms is as old as the human race. In the Garden of Eden the serpent targeted the woman asking, Did God really say that you shall not eat from every tree . ?, totally distorting God’s generosity in only forbidding one tree in Paradise!

Intelligence alone will not help us spot this spin. We believe the best about God, simply because He says so. He alone is utterly reliable, His word flawless for us, whom He truly values!