Of Facts and Feelings

[436 words] The movie and television industries exist to promote entertainment fantasy. One of the latest fads is the “reality” show. The only problem is that there is almost nothing even remotely “real” about these shows. So what?! Selling fantasy is about creating feelings not delivering facts. Except for a few documentaries and such, the purpose of television programming in general is to provoke emotions. It is sometimes difficult in matters of religion to balance the dual presence of both facts and emotions. Some have argued that religion is exclusively about facts and there is no place for feelings. Not true. Others seem to care only about emotional responses and have little regard for truth.  Feelings are not equal to truth. Jacob grieved over the death of his son, Joseph, and could not be consoled by the rest of the family, (Gen. 37:33-35) even though Joseph was in fact not…