From “Introduction. Our Day of Rumors” (pp. 1-2)
The rumors shot through the crowd like lightning. Murder! Enemy infiltration! The tyrant got what he deserved! Each newcomer gaped in horror at the motionless bodies scattered on the ground—the king, the queen, their servants, and also . . . the foe. Nasty outsider! Evil specter! More like a monster! Speculation mounted into sharp contention as a woman arrived. Everything was wrong! She had seen what really happened; it was she who had run excitedly to call the crowd. Knowing she could only quash the rumors with something real, Abish reached out and took the queen by the hand (see Alma 19:17–29).
We, too, live in a day when rumors and myths mingle with reality and cause confusion, concern, and contention. To survive, we must find and grab hold of the real from amid the rumor, but frequently the two are closely entangled. Forgers write fake words on actual historical paper; con artists couch a long lie in many short truths; spokespeople offer finely parsed words that sound like a lot but commit only a little. Today rumors appear as errors, falsehoods, legends, family lore, false quotes, lies, misleading misinformation, and deliberately distorted disinformation. Sometimes the word myth is used to describe simple errors that stand in opposition to facts. But a myth can also be a sweeping cultural story that lives deep in our minds and underlies our actions. Surrounded as we are by myths and rumors, the best protection lies not in memorizing every possible fact or in debunking simple errors but rather in knowing how good thinking works. Just as Adam and Eve needed to “taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good” (Moses 6:55), so can we dissolve rumors by recognizing what is real.
Real vs. Rumor is not structured around the “Come, Follow Me” curriculum, but it is filled with insights that will improve your scripture study, thinking, and discipleship. The reading for April 26-May 2 examines Doctrine and Covenants 45 and explains “We live in perilous times, and that can be troubling. Even Jesus’s disciples, when they heard Him prophesy of the calamities that would occur in our day, ‘were troubled.’ The early Saints in Kirtland, Ohio, were also troubled by the perilous times in which they lived. Among other things, there were ‘many false reports … and foolish stories’ that were undermining the gospel message. But the Lord’s response, then and now, is ‘be not troubled.’” The first two paragraphs from Real vs. Rumor show how to put this message into practice.
