Dewey Defeats Truman

Possibly the most famous newspaper blunder of all time, the Chicago Daily Tribune incorrectly announced the results of the 1948 Presidential election in their bold headline.

Truman, who ascended to the presidency following the death of FDR, was a popular leader for his part in bringing World War II to a close, but he faced a furious challenge in New York Governor Thomas Dewey. Dewey spent the campaign hammering Truman as a big, wasteful spender, and as Election Day dawned, the candidates were in a dead heat. Long before today's exit polling data and around the clock coverage, Americans would go to bed and find out the results in the morning. In an effort to get their paper out quickly, the Tribune had to go to press on a hunch, and in the morning they had a very public humiliation when the President mockingly displayed their headline (this may have been the original case of "fake news").

The media was humiliated again last November when, after almost a solid year of the major outlets predicting a Hillary Clinton landslide, Donald Trump won the Electoral College, nabbing a half dozen states projected to go for the Democrat.

These cases, and many more like them, demonstrate that the experts can get it wrong, and even be way off base (see: meteorologists). The average person is inclined to believe these experts because they are, well, experts. We assume that they are well trained, using the best resources, and wanting nothing more than to get it right. That same level of trust leads us to believe some other experts.

We believe the History Channel when they say, "For 50,000 years humans have been evolving..." We buy into the professor who states unequivocally, "The Bible is full of errors." We binge on advice from the television gurus who advise us, "If it feels good, do it." And then we balk at the pastor who tells us God is Creator, Lord, and Judge.

Sure, the pastor means well, but he doesn't know what the experts know. We need to remember that many of the so-called experts operate from what they want to be true, not what they know to be true. Entire volumes could be written on false headlines, deceptive articles, fraudulent science, and outright lies perpetuated by experts, and not one credible paragraph can be written disproving the Bible. Don't reject God's Word just because of the experts. Do your own research, and you will find God's Word hold up.

For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.

Psalm 119:89