Bullet Saturday: Non-exhaustive on fact-checking

Grant Wickham: Facebook

• Thank you to friends for the kind words of support with my Mom's passing, July 31, 2020. 

• No, I do not think the biblical 'paradise' or 'heaven' is in the physical realm. It exists in the spiritual realm. For example, please see from the New American Standard Bible (NASB): 2 Corinthians 12 as the Apostle Paul visits paradise. See also Luke 23 as Jesus promises the crucified criminal beside him, paradise that day.

• In regards to the Facebook image: I can grant that it is an intellectual possibility that certain fact-checkers have a significant bias that leads to an incorrect analysis of evidence. It is also an intellectual possibility that certain fact-checkers are providing a reasonable and fair presentation.

• To be clear, I am not 'subscribing' to any fact-checker/fact-checking conspiracy. I have not studied the subject enough to have a definite, definitive opinion.

• I will rely on my academic training, especially my British, MPhil/PhD theses only work and the developed skills that continue with my website work. There are certain helpful academic paradigms in regards to research and knowledge.

• Non-exhaustively, checking facts and working at research should consist of:

• Within a Christian worldview, this should focus on prayerful requests for divine assistance via God the Holy Spirit, not excluding God the Father and God the Son.

• Example: John 16: 13: New American Standard Bible (NASB) '13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth....

• An attempt at objectivity by the reader and listener. Objectivity and reason a goal of  philosophy, see Blackburn, Pirie.

'• The use of significant primary sources by the reader and listener. By significant these should be professional, if possible, but at least significantly informed, firsthand sources.

• The use of significant secondary sources by the reader and listener. By significant these should be professional, if possible, but at least significantly informed, secondhand sources.

• The use of objective reasoning by sources. Objective reasoning and thinking being views and/or approaches primarily based on the object, facts not feelings. This opposed to subjective thinking, which is subjective thoughts rather than objective thoughts on the issue in question. Subjective thinking and approach would therefore be more influenced by feelings than facts.

• No one is totally objective, but is a presentation reasonably, reasoned and objective?

• Are points and counterpoints reasonably considered in a presentation?

• My British training emphasized a significant use of methodology. In other words, the intended meanings of an author. This was emphasized more than within my previous North American education. In the context of this post, it is analysis of the methodology of the fact-checking and fact-checkers. Is a presentation too biased to be considered objective?

• I tend to emphasize the worldview of an author and/or critic more so than his/her methodology, while accepting methodology as important. I reason that worldview effects intended meaning. In other words, how does the worldview of an author, critic, fact-checker effect his her presentation? Not based on presumption, but on propositions and/or arguments provided.

• Regardless of the worldview and methodology of a source, the propositions and/or arguments provided should be reasonably analyzed as true or false within reason.

BLACKBURN, SIMON (1996) Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Oxford, Oxford University Press.  

CAMPBELL, ALASTAIR (2000)(2007) ‘The Nature of Practical Theology’, in James Woodward and Stephen Pattison (eds.), The Blackwell Reader in Pastoral and Practical Theology, Oxford, Blackwell Publishing. 

DEAN, WILLIAM (1990) ‘Empirical Theology: A Revisable Tradition’, in Process Studies, Volume 19, Number 2, pp. 85-102. Claremont, California, The Center for Process Studies. 

INBODY, TYRON (1995) The Constructive Theology of Bernard Meland: Postliberal Empirical Realism, Atlanta, Scholars Press. 

LANGER, SUSANNE K (1953)(1967) An Introduction to Symbolic Logic, Dover Publications, New York.

PIRIE, MADSEN (2006)(2015) How To Win Every Argument, Bloomsbury, London.

WILLIAMS, DANIEL DAY (1969) ‘Suffering and Being in Empirical Theology’, in The Future of Empirical Theology, Chicago, the University of Chicago Press. 

WOODWARD, JAMES AND STEPHEN PATTISON (2000)(2007)(eds.), The Blackwell Reader in Pastoral and Practical Theology, Oxford, Blackwell Publishing.