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HOW FALSEHOODS DIMINISH TRUTH
Updated: Nov 4, 2020
TODAY’S MESSAGE OF
FROM
Discovering a BETTER LIFE MINISTRIES
(Stories of Real People, Real Events, Real Places)
Are dedicated to HELPING
PEOPLE FIND PEACE and HOPE
(John 10:10)
(Ron Bainbridge: Editor)
(November 4th, 2020)
"MAKE HONESTY YOUR COMPANION AND INTEGRITY YOUR CLOSE FRIEND"
HOW FALSEHOODS DIMINISH TRUTH
Friends, the story I am sharing with you today is absolutely mesmerizing! It is a touching tale from the years of the Holocaust. A little Jewish girl from Belgium makes her way across Europe to search for her Nazi-deported parents. She is able to escape capture herself only by taking refuge with packs of friendly wolves. In the course of her incredible escape, she even kills a German soldier.
This multi-layered account of Nazi cruelty, childhood innocence, and unlikely rescue was published as "Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years." It generated millions of dollars in revenue and was translated into 18 languages. A French movie from the book was a hit during its first run.
However, not long after the film was first released, it was revealed through the confession of her lawyer that Misha Defonseca's dramatic story was a shameful lie.
Defonseca spent the war years in safety in Belgium. Despite her moving speeches about experiences that led to her bestselling book, we know now that she made up the stories about wolves and Nazis. She isn't even Jewish.
Scholars had challenged a garble of dates, events, and information in the book. But their research largely fell on deaf ears, as the public received the book with eagerness. But since the revelation of Misha Defonseca’s lie the house of cards has collapsed.
Friend, people who misrepresent significant realities with trumped-up, self-serving false claims actually manage to tarnish the truth. In the words of Dr. Lawrence Langer, one of the scholars who knew all along it was a hoax: "What happened to the Jews was the worst atrocity in history, and people who exploit it for profit, by posing as Jews or lying about being part of the experience, insult those who went through it. It's as bad as saying the Holocaust never happened."
A false rumour spreads quickly. Once started it is virtually impossible to stop. For instance, one day a deeply distressed woman came to Francis of Assissi confessing she had circulated a false rumour about a friend. She was now conscious-stricken. She asked, “How can I undo what I have done?” Francis got a feather pillow, took it to the porch, cut the cover and emptied the contents into the wind.
Then turning to the woman, he said, “Now go and collect all of those feathers and bring them back to me.” She made an attempt, but soon returned saying, “It is impossible, they are scattered to the four winds.” “Neither can you recall the words that you have spoken,” said Francis. “They, like the feathers, are now scattered beyond your control.”
Friend, the gruesome facts of the Holocaust don't change; a woman's misrepresentation of her experiences related to that event minimizes it, however, and gives comfort to Holocaust-deniers and anti-Semites.
Neither do the facts of Christ's resurrection and the life-changing power of the gospel change; people who misrepresent themselves as its messengers or devotees tarnish the Christian faith, discredit Jesus of Nazareth, and decrease the likelihood that unbelievers would consider - much less embrace - it.
Sleazy televangelists, gay-bashers at military funerals, priests who molest children, church-member mums and dads who betray families, Sunday school teachers who bully or curse employees at work - all are agents of betrayal. They sabotage the gospel, undermine Christ's appeal, and make faith unattractive.
Truth's credibility is always tied to the integrity of its messengers!
Friend, thank you for taking the time to read our message today. What we have shared may do nothing more than trigger your thoughts about the power of your words. However if they do that much our purpose for sharing them with you will have been be fulfilled.
If you would like to receive a FREE copy of a booklet titled “What You Say Is Powerful," please write to Discovering A BETTER LIFE, P.O. Box 1540, Albany, W.A. 6331.
If you prefer, you may phone your request on: (08) 98 418 418. Or Email us at: abl-alb@omninet.net.au
“Guard your integrity as a sacred thing: Nothing at last is sacred except The integrity of your own soul.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
(1803-1882)
Ron Bainbridge
Coordinator of:
