In a chaotic culture of misinformation, disinformation, rumors, hoaxes, conspiracy theories and forgeries, how can people discern what is real and what is not?
It’s a question and topic that author Keith Erekson will discuss in the Church History Museum’s ongoing series, “Evenings at the Museum” on Thursday, June 1, at 7 p.m.
Erekson’s “Real vs. Rumor: How to Dispel Latter-day Myths” is open to the public and admission is free. The event will be in-person only, with no video conferencing available.
“I’m excited for this,” Erekson wrote in tweet Wednesday.
Erekson currently serves as the director of historical research and outreach for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also sits on the editorial board of the Church Historian’s Press, according to his website bio.
Erekson published his book, “Real vs. Rumor: How to Dispel Latter-day Myths,” in 2021 to demonstrate how to think effectively about information with a focus on Church history. He spoke in-depth about the topic on the Church News podcast.
“For Latter-day Saints in particular, history is so much a part of our worship and our devotion. ... Having an accurate understanding of history and God’s dealings with people helps us have an accurate understanding of God,” Erekson said.
“A lot of times information gets distorted — not for a reason of testimony or faith — but it gets distorted because someone didn’t do their homework. ... In these cases, we can use clear thinking skills of asking for evidence and making sure that there aren’t exaggerations, and those can become ways that we can address the challenges that we find in history.”
In a July 2022 Church News article, Erekson wrote: “Because stories usually contain truth mingled with exaggeration, it is shortsighted to try simply to debunk them by turning them into myths. Instead, we should carefully analyze their contents. We should cherish what is correct (the truth), recover what has been omitted (the whole truth), and remove what was added later (nothing but the truth). Then we should serve another slice of pie while telling pioneer stories that are more than true.”
