Rumor

On October 31, 2024, thousands of people descended upon O'Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland, to witness a Halloween parade. They waited, and waited some more. It took a while for the crowd to come to an uncomfortable realization: The parade was a hoax.

It started as a false advertisement on a website called My Spirit Halloween, but quickly gained traction online, spreading like wildfire on social media platforms like TikTok and Facebook. Part of the reason why it took off is that the site,"myspirithalloween.com," advertised multiple events, including some that were real. Its promotion of the fake Dublin parade also referenced the legitimate Irish performance group Macnas. To bolster its credibility, the website also included fake reviews, real photos from previous Macnas Halloween events, fake social media pages on Facebook, and other AI-generated text.

As the advertised start time of 7pm rolled around, thousands of people, some dressed in Halloween costumes, had gathered on O'Connell Street, despite the fact that there were no traditional signs of a parade. No streets had been blocked off, no police escorts, no signage, nothing. Videos and photos of the bewildered crowd flooded social media. The incident even disrupted Dublin's tram lines.

Irish police, in an attempt to disperse the crowd, issued a statement: “Please be advised that contrary to information being circulated online, no Halloween parade is scheduled to take place in Dublin City Centre this evening or tonight. All those gathered on O’Connell Street in expectation of such a parade are asked to disperse safely.”

Industry analysts believe the My Spirit Halloween website exists purely for the purpose of advertising revenue, and probably relies on AI-generated content to generate timely, relevant content. Just like the Spirit Halloween stores that the site references, this story popped up at just the right time to make an impact, then disappeared just as quickly.

A Maryland high school athletic director faces criminal charges for allegedly using artificial intelligence to mimic the voice of Pikesville High School Principal Eric Eiswert, misleading people into believing Eiswert made racist and antisemitic comments. Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said, "We now have conclusive evidence that the recording was not authentic. It's been determined the recording was generated through the use of artificial intelligence technology.”

After an investigation by the Baltimore County Police Department, Dazhon Darien was arrested on charges of stalking, theft, disruption of school operations, and retaliation against a witness.

While celebrities have been on guard against the use of AI for unauthorized use of likeness, this particular target is notable for his ordinariness. Hany Farid is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who specializes in digital forensics and helped analyze the recording. “What's so particularly poignant here is that this is a Baltimore school principal. This is not Taylor Swift. It's not Elon Musk. It's just some guy trying to get through his day.”

According to police, Darien's alleged scheme began as retaliation against Eiswert over “work performance challenges.” Investigators reported that Eiswert began investigating for the potential mishandling of nearly $2,000 in school funds, and had reprimanded Darien for firing a coach without approval. Darien’s contract was up for renewal next semester, but Eiswert implied that the renewal might not happen.

In January 2024, detectives discovered the AI-generated voice recording, which had spread on social media. The recording caused significant disruptions, leading to Eiswert's temporary removal from the school and triggering hate-filled messages and numerous calls to the school.

Darien was eventually arrested at Baltimore/Washington International Airport while attempting to board a flight to Houston. He was stopped for packing a gun in his bags, and officers discovered a warrant for his arrest.

Still, the result continued to leave Professor Farid unsettled. “What is going to be the consequence of this?” Farid emphasized the need for regulatory action. “I don't understand at what point we're going to wake up as a country and say, like, ‘Why are we allowing this? Where are our regulators?’”

Possible Preaching Angle:

This is a good example that deception is on the rise (“evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” 2 Tim. 3:13). We should be discerning about the information we choose to believe and pass on to others (whether secular or religious).

Because the British royal family lives under constant media scrutiny, it’s usual for any member of the family to stay out of the limelight for an extended period. So, when Catherine of Wales hadn’t been seen in public for months, and her Mother’s Day photo was scrutinized as possibly being doctored, conspiracy theories began to proliferate.

All these theories proved to be irresistible for online jokesters. “Perhaps Kate Middleton had been using a body double, or was in a coma, or was engaged in an illicit tryst,” people speculated online. Even American late night comedy hosts were getting in on the action.

But it turns out the truth was much less exciting, and much scarier: Kate Middleton was undergoing chemotherapy treatments for a form of cancer.

For many people, this news created a regretful reckoning. A 58-year-old woman named Dana spoke to reporters at The Washington Post about this. Dana had been joking with her friends about the Kate Middleton rumors; when she heard the truth, she was filled regret. She said, “This woman’s sick and afraid. And I just lost my mom to cancer. I am devastated at my inhumanity.”

Many of the online entertainment personalities simply ceased joking and moved on to other targets, but CBS’ late-night host took an extra step, apologizing during a segment of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He said:

There’s a standard that I try to hold myself to. And that is I do not make light of somebody else’s tragedy. Any cancer diagnosis is harrowing for the patient and for their family. Though I’m sure they don’t need it from me, I and everyone here at The Late Show would like to extend our well wishes and heartfelt hope that her recovery is swift and thorough.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Telling jokes can be a great way to bring levity to your friends, but take care that your jokes do not veer into harassment or defamation of character.

At the intersection of social media platforms and fast-food trends lives a new entry into the category of viral posts: the secret menu item. Influencers are making videos about food combinations, and the surge of interest is wreaking havoc, causing annoyance for workers across America.

After a TikTok user created a video of her customized Waffle House order—a Texas bacon melt with waffles instead of bread—Waffle Houses across the south were inundated with orders for the improvised delicacy. Managers at one store in Georgia created a sign stating, “Order from the menu. We are not making anything you saw on TikTok!!”

Another TikTok user experienced success after her fast-food hack video got almost two million views. At a friend’s prompting, she ordered a Chipotle quesadilla with steak and veggies inside, and dipped it in a combination of sour cream and vinaigrette. The friend, a Chipotle manager, said it tasted like a Philly cheesesteak.

According to industry analyst Adam Chandler, such makeshift delicacies can bring extra revenue to fast-food chains, but they can gum up the workers at the store if they haven’t prepared for the scrutiny and attention. Chandler said, “It really places a lot of stress on fast-food workers.”

Chandler noted that while social media trends offer the potential for increased revenue, they can cause problems. “Service has slowed down, in part because people have started modifying their orders. So, we’re looking at a context where fast food is becoming less fast.”

The trend sometimes has results that are more positive. One TikTok user initiated a viral video after posting about a favorite snack idea at Momofuku. VP Ryan Healy at Momofuku said, “It’s not the way we set out to do this, but she’s bringing more people into our world. We see [TikTok trends] as a positive thing and hopefully broaden people’s minds — to help change the way people eat and eat more adventurously.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Selfishly demanding that things be done our way is never God’s plan for believers. We should instead be considerate of others who are working hard to do their jobs to serve many people.

In Fall 2022, the Gas app exploded in popularity among high schoolers, but a vicious, unfounded rumor caused its popularity to nosedive, confounding its founders in the process.

Titled after the internet slang “gas up” which means to flatter someone or give them good feelings, the app allows students to share anonymous compliments with their peers. But mere weeks after it reached No. 1 on the Apple store, rumors began circulating that Gas was being used for sex trafficking.

One user said, “I have a Glock and I’ll come into your house and kill all of you,” said Nikita Bier, the startup entrepreneur who founded Gas. “The messages are very detailed, and they’ll send like 150 of these messages because they’re so angry. We have had emails saying, ‘what you’re doing is disgusting and I’ve reported you to the FBI.’ We get countless messages every day from users about it.”

According to Bier, the rumors intensified after parents, teachers, news reporters, and public safety organizations amplified them without knowing if they were true or not.

One such agency was the police department in Piedmont, Oklahoma, which later had to post a retraction. Piedmont Police Chief Scott Singer later said, “That posting was the result of a post that was forwarded to us, which we later learned to be a bogus posting. As a result, we talked with the CEO of Gas, and we have determined it was a bogus posting. We have removed that from our Facebook page and informed the schools that any postings about that were discovered to be false.”

Bier says, “The app grows on its own, but dealing with the hoax requires a lot of labor.” He’s tried a variety of strategies to counter the misinformation, but it seems none of them are very effective. “The challenge is that you can only fight memes with memes. If it’s not easily screenshotable and exciting it’s not going to get more visibility than the original message.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Nothing can ruin a good situation like poor judgment and unbridled gossiping. As Christians we ought to set an example both by what we say and what we choose NOT to say.

In 2021, several psychologists made an in-depth study into what drives people to political and social extremes. This can result in beliefs in a wide range of unsubstantiated and sometimes harmful conspiracy theories. The research paper was titled “Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn.”

According to the study, bout 5% of Americans are considered "chaos-seekers." They feel marginalized and have "an intense need for social dominance; they’re angry that they’re not on top." There is a growing sense of anxiety that in a time of rapid change, ideological conflicts, and social unrest, they "feel their prospects in life have tanked. People who believe the system isn't working for them." They gravitate toward extremist views and include those on the political Right and Left.

The researchers named the model for extremism a “significance quest.” Many Americans "need to feel they matter and that their lives have purpose. These needs intensify when they feel powerless, as in times of stress and uncertainty or after a serious loss or humiliation. People will do nearly anything to restore meaning in their lives. All too often, meaning comes in extremist packaging."

Many of the people studied reported being simply bored with their lives. "People who are adrift are likelier to seek exciting, risky pursuits that give them a sense of purpose and meaning. Diehard ideologies fit the bill." The search for meaning led some to be "more sensation-seeking and more willing to support ideological violence."

On the unusually cold morning of January 28, 1986, the Challenger space shuttle blew apart 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts on board. But according to some conspiracy theorists, six of the seven crew members still live among us.

Some of the examples are:

Captain Richard “Dick” Scobee, is now the CEO of a Chicago marketing-advertising company called Cows in Trees.

Pilot Michael J. Smith is professor Michael J. Smith of the University of Wisconsin.

Mission Specialist Judith Resnik is a professor of Law at Yale Law School.

Payload Specialist (and “Teacher in Space”) Christa McAuliffe now only uses her first name, Sharon. She has an almost entirely different face than that of Christa’s, and is an adjunct professor at Syracuse University College of Law.

Payload Specialist Gregory Jarvis is the only person that the conspiracy theorists believe died, because they couldn’t identify a double for him.

The facts have repeatedly shown that Challenger tragically fell from the sky due to an O-ring failure after the ship was launched in unsafe temperatures.

In a recent article in Popular Mechanics, Professor Marta Marchlewska at the Polish Institute of Psychology explained the cause for such conspiracies. “People who say that astronauts are still alive refuse to accept that bad things accidentally happen to good people. So, there's someone behind the disaster or it simply did not happen.”

The author of the article then summarizes: “A conspiracy theory tames the great chaos around us, which is the likely explanation for these implausible ideas. It’s easier to blame the imagined secret machinations of influential people, serving dark agendas, than admitting life can be a cruel beast."

Possible Preaching Angle:

People are tempted to believe a lie when the truth challenges our false beliefs. People want to believe that good things happen to good people and bad things to bad people. People want to believe they we are able to be good. But none of that is true. But, as followers of Christ, we have something far more trustworthy to tame the great chaos around us.

The Washington Medical Commission has suspended the license of Scott Miller of Miller Family Pediatrics. The suspension was the culmination of an investigation launched after more than a dozen complaints about Miller were filed, all having to do with his conduct regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and/or treatment thereof.

Among them were allegations that Miller prescribed medicine without seeing patients, actively interfered with patient care in hospitals, and engaged in “a hostile and threatening public campaign against hospitals and doctors.” Complainants also alleged that Miller’s use of social media was also detrimental to general medical practice because of his disdain for masks. One complainant wrote, “He talked about the stupidity of people taking the pandemic seriously, then shared a barrage of antiquated or false information regarding COVID.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Dire consequences result when people in positions of public trust act recklessly and put others at risk. Misconduct from leaders is judged more harshly because of their responsibility to do right in serving the community.

They say that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. But for one doctor, the cost of lacking such prevention is much more costly. In fact, it’s costing people their lives. Dr. Brytney Cobia is at Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham, and she’s been treating coronavirus patients, some who are vaccinated, and some who aren’t. The difference between those who make it and those who don’t is as obvious as it is heartbreaking. She said,

I’m admitting young healthy people to the hospital with very serious COVID infections. One of the last things they do before they’re intubated is beg me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them that I’m sorry, but it’s too late.

As of July (2021), the state of Alabama had the lowest vaccination rate of the nation, with only about 33% of its residents fully vaccinated. Because of the rise of the virus’ Delta variant, Alabama hospitals are experiencing a dramatic surge in COVID-related hospital visits. And according to Dr. Cobia, deathly sickness in someone’s inner circle is the only thing that will get some folks to consider taking the vaccine.

A few days later when I call time of death, I hug their family members and I tell them the best way to honor their loved one is to go get vaccinated and encourage everyone they know to do the same.

They cry. And they tell me they didn't know. They thought it was a hoax. They thought it was political. They thought because they had a certain blood type or a certain skin color they wouldn't get as sick. But they were wrong. And they wish they could go back. But they can't. So, they thank me, and they go get the vaccine. And I go back to my office, write the death note, and say a small prayer that this loss will save more lives.

Possible Preaching Angle:

1) Lives are damaged and even lost when people choose a convenient untruth instead of an inconvenient truth. Some refuse to take heed until the danger is imminent, but by then it's often too late to do anything meaningful. The time to act with prudence is before the danger overwhelms. 2) In the spiritual realm people also procrastinate making a decision for salvation and it threatens their eternal destiny.

The rumors spread like wildfire: Muslims were secretly lacing a Sri Lankan village’s food with sterilization drugs. Soon, a video circulated that appeared to show a Muslim shopkeeper admitting to drugging his customers—he had misunderstood the question that was angrily put to him. Then over a several-day span, dozens of mosques and Muslim-owned shops and homes were burned down across multiple towns.

The rumors were spread via Facebook, whose newsfeed algorithm prioritized high-engagement content, especially videos. “Designed to maximize user time on site,” said a New York Times article. The algorithm “promotes whatever wins the most attention. Studies have found that posts that tap into negative, primal emotions like anger or fear produce the highest engagement.”

Similar cases of mob violence have taken place in India, Myanmar, Mexico, and elsewhere, with misinformation spread mainly through Facebook and the messaging tool WhatsApp.

This happened despite Facebook’s decision in January 2018 to tweak its algorithm, to prevent this kind of deception that leads to violence. But these changes may actually have made the problem worse. An article in the Columbia Journalism Review explained why: “misinformation is almost always more interesting than the truth.”

Two Clemson University researchers have extensively studied the phenomenon of foreign political disinformation campaigns via social media. To combat this growing problem, they decided to launch their own campaign.

Called Spot the Troll, it invites users to take a short quiz and see if they can identify which social media accounts are authentic and which ones were fabricated. The goal is to teach people the “markers of inauthenticity” in online social media profiles. The title reflects this aim; the term “troll” is internet jargon for any person who intentionally creates a stir by posting erroneous, hateful, or provocative content.

This practice has become weaponized by foreign intelligence agencies. Pioneered by Russia, these “troll farms” have proliferated in places like Iran and China, among those who specialize in sowing political discord. Linvill says, “They push ideologies in two extreme directions, making it harder and harder for us to make compromises.” He is concerned in part because the problem has become home-grown. “It's not just state actors. It's also Americans doing it to ourselves.”

Possible Preaching Angles:

In an age of rampant disinformation, we must be especially vigilant regarding the things we share on social media. Our knee-jerk tendencies of sharing anything that validates our biases will get us into trouble if and when our statements are revealed to be based on falsehoods.

Over the years belief in conspiracy theories have proliferated in America and in many parts of the world. Some of them include:

-The US government deposits $630,000 into an inaccessible, secret bank account for every person born in the USA. Only those who know the correct top-secret codes can access THEIR money.

-Victims of some mass shootings, especially Sandy Hook, were crisis actors paid by the government as part of a secret plot to take away citizen’s guns.

-Jews secretly control governments all over the world and own all the major banks.

In ministering to people, Christians need to look at these weird and irrational beliefs not with condescension, but at what is really behind them. In reviewing conspiracy theories, author J.C. Pan writes that these anxiety-based beliefs flourish when citizens feel politically or economically marginalized:

People end up susceptible to outlandish ideas not because they’re inordinately foolish or ill-intentioned, but because they’re living in times of enormous socioeconomic instability and political discord. Put another way, conspiracy theories… (are a) signal that a democracy is already decaying. Combating them effectively has less to do with sounding the alarm than with taking up a broader fight for economic equality and for robust, democratic social institutions.

In the Entre Leadership podcast, author Stephen Mansfield compares how barnacles slow down sea vessels to the affect gossip can have an organization or church. Some of the facts discussed in the podcast:

-Barnacles can slow down ships by as much as 40% as reported by the US Navy.

-Barnacles can get inside engines and can be added weight on the hull.

-Barnacles can actually crack the hull of smaller vessels.

-Barnacles diminish the aerodynamics of the boat.

-The number of barnacles multiply rapidly due to the constant reproduction.

-The US Navy spends $500 million a year to scrape barnacles off ships.

Possible Preaching Angles: Faultfinding; Gossip – Gossip slows down the mission and vision of the church and it affects the health of the body. There is a cost to dealing with gossip, but it’s worth it. This illustration provides a positive way to preach on a negative subject.

At a Cenex convenience store, seven people were taken to the hospital as a result of mysterious symptoms experienced by a cashier.

It started when one particular customer went to the counter, and paid for their purchase with cash. The currency in question was laced with a thin layer of white powder, and when the cashier received it, she felt a burning sensation on her hands.

That cashier was prompted by a paramedic–who happened to be on scene–to rapidly wash her hands. When the burning symptom persisted, she drove herself to the hospital. After a HAZMAT team arrived to conduct an initial analysis, they similarly advised the other six customers in the store to seek urgent care also.

Their fears eventually abated after all seven were released from the hospital. The Mahnomen County Sheriff's Office eventually released a concluding statement to ease the minds of a potentially skittish public, implying that there is no imminent danger.

As it turns out, the white powder was simply a form of carbohydrate, a food compound to which the cashier had a pronounced and noticeable allergy.

"We knew it wasn't airborne because the only person with symptoms was the cashier who held the money, the other employees were perfectly fine," Sheriff Doug Krier told CNN.

"She had to be allergic to the powder, as all the symptoms matched an allergic reaction. We just had to make sure that is wasn't a threat to others."

Potential Preaching Angles: 1) Money; Money can cause people to react in different ways, sometimes healthy and sometimes toxic. You don't know how you'll respond unless you actually have some to touch; 2) Influence; Rumor – One person can influence a large group either for good or bad

In Walter Van Tilburg Clark's novel The Ox-Bow Incident, an exited youth passes on a rumor that popular rancher has been murdered and his cattle stolen. Eventually an angry mob of townspeople decided they can't wait for the sheriff for fear that the desperadoes will get away, so they form a makeshift posse. Riding long and hard, they discover three strangers and a herd of steers near an oxbow in the river. The strangers claim that they had paid for their cattle that morning and don't know anything about a murder. Despite their repeated pleas of innocence, the mob casts a guilty, except for five who vote they be turned over the courts. The strangers are summarily hung.

Them as the vigilantes return to town, they meet the sheriff and the rancher whom they believed had been killed. It turns out the strangers had been telling the truth all along and the men they had just murdered had nothing to do with the rustling.

You've all heard about "the placebo effect," the power of the brain to help alleviate pain or disease merely by the belief that treatment is occurring. But the placebo has a little-studied evil twin, the "nocebo," which is only beginning to be understood.

The BBC comments, "We have long known that expectations of a malady can be as dangerous as a virus. In the same way that voodoo shamans could harm their victims through the power of suggestion, priming someone to think they are ill can often produce the actual symptoms of a disease. Vomiting, dizziness, headaches, and even death, could be triggered through belief alone. It's called the 'nocebo effect.' But it is now becoming clear just how easily those dangerous beliefs can spread through gossip and hearsay—with potent effect."

Possible Preaching Angle:

The power of belief and suggestion is remarkably clear, and even deadly as in multiple examples cited in the article. So how important is it to take what we believe seriously? If belief in a false thing can kill or heal, what can belief in the real power of God—or the enemy—do?

In September 2011, The New York Times ran an article about a small town in Missouri called Mountain Grove. Gossip and rumors have always existed in this tight-knit community, but before the days of anonymous social media sites, people traded stories at the local diner called Dee's Place. At Dee's Place you could usually find a dozen longtime residents who gathered each morning to talk about weather, politics, and, of course, their neighbors.

But of late [the article reports], more people in this hardscrabble town of 5,000 have shifted from sharing the latest news and rumors over eggs and coffee to … a social media Web site called Topix, where they write and read startlingly negative posts, all cloaked in anonymity, about one another. [Unlike sites like Facebook, which require users to give their real names, Topix users can pick different names and thus remain anonymous.]

And in Dee's Place, people are not happy. A waitress, Pheobe Best, said that the site had provoked fights and caused divorces. The diner's owner, Jim Deverell, called Topix a "cesspool of character assassination." And hearing the conversation, Shane James, the cook, wandered out of the kitchen tense with anger.

His wife, Jennifer, had been the target in a post … which described the mother of two, as among other things, "a methed-out, doped-out [addict] with AIDS" Not a word was true, Mr. and Mrs. James said, but the consequences were real enough …. Now, the couple has resolved to move. "I'll never come back to this town again," Ms. James said in an interview at the diner. "I just want to get … out of town."

The article concludes with a warning about gossip: "The same Web sites created for candid talk about local news and politics are also hubs of unsubstantiated gossip, stirring widespread resentment in communities where ties run deep … and anonymity is something of a novel concept."

Augustine encouraged conversation at meals--but with a strictly enforced rule that the character of an absent person should never be negatively discussed. He had a warning to this effect carved on a plaque attached to his table.

It is a sign of youthful arrogance to try to build up a reputation by assailing prominent figures.

One of the striking differences between a cat and a lie is a cat only has nine lives.