Get Your Facts Straight

I was just on a forum where someone posted a "meme" in support of gun rights that was historically inaccurate. I pointed out the historic inaccuracy and corrected it - with something that was ridiculously easy to Google search - and two things happened. One person tried to justify why it was still OK, and someone else called me a snowflake. I responded to the name caller by referring to him as a history denier. Because let's face it, he was. The owner of the forum chastised me for name calling and threatened me with a ban from the forum. The other guy was alright. So I voluntarily left the forum. 

Yeah, there's a reason I am mentioning this here. 

We all make mistakes. No one is immune. Bad quotes. Quotes taken out of context. Historical inaccuracies. Really good photoshops. Mistakes can be forgiven, especially if the mistake is removed and/or corrected. 

What can't be forgiven is trying to justify why it's still OK, refusing to find out if the inaccuracy is true and then acting on it. being so blinded by "hero worship" that you can't admit facts and tear down those who know them, etc. 

We're the ones who are paying attention to what's going on in the world. We're the ones taking a side and fighting for what we believe in. And if we want to win that fight, a clean fight is still the best way. When you continue to pass around false information as though it were true and try to silence those who point out that it isn't instead of fixing the problem, we lose. Bad information can be easily proven and used against your side. Bad information, especially when the one passing it on refuses to fix it, weakens our argument. 

You are never the smartest person anywhere, always remember that. If you can, your argument will only grow stronger. You have a better chance at winning if you listen to others and consider them to be at least as smart as you are. 

I run a Facebook group and am all over social media. If I block or ban you anywhere, you can bet you did something horrible. I don't even chastise people in these places. When someone picks a fight with one of my commenters, I monitor it, but assume the original person can take care of themselves. When someone attacks me, I hear them out and we may go back and forth until I get bored. But I still don't block them. I have blocked people, but it was usually because they were threatening or harassing my readers/viewers. And I've had people come in who were just saying some terrible things, leftists who weren't willing to hear a different opinion and were just there to fight. They go away on their own when they realize no one is really engaging them or banning them for saying things. And if they don't go away, sometimes they calm down and join the conversation as rational adults. 

Because we're adults. Some folks still need to reach that point. But I'm not going to chastise anyone for correcting a mistake. I'm not going to threaten people with exile because they aren't hanging on my every word and agreeing with me no matter what. 

And when I make a mistake, I take it down instead of continuing to pass it around as real. Because I want to win the fight with a solid, honest win instead of BSing my way there and prancing around like I did something when I actually lost the fight. 

Do the same. Take a correction graciously. If you look into it and are right, show your evidence (don't tell people to Google it. Present your own evidence if you are right. Vice versa. If you say someone is wrong, prove it). Continuing to push false information makes the fight harder for everyone else.