The Age of the Whistleblower

There is an app for that. In fact, there are several. There are encrypted apps which help people anonymously raise a red flag when something isn't right. Secure email, file sharing systems, disappearing message apps. ProPublica has a webpage dedicated to listing ways in which people can securely and anonymously leak information to them.

Staffers in the White House are using an app right now called Confide, according the the Washington Post. Ostensibly to securely talk to one another. But one wonders exactly who’s confiding in whom. The conversation White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer had with his staff about leaks was leaked.

We are living in an age where our vast connectivity and technological advancement—while at times contentious—is making it easier for people to stand up to oppression and harder for oppressors to hold onto their power. Control was once easier to maintain with fear propaganda, the swift punishment of dissent, and the systematic separation of people. But we are no longer separate. The old tactics are still used, but now they often backfire. We are increasingly too smart to fall for it like the old days.

Overall, this is a good thing. But it will not be without its challenges. The Old World is not giving up easily. They have managed to convince a large and vocal part of the world’s voting population that we should return to our old ways, both religious and societal. Civil rights are a bad thing, fossil fuels are good for jobs, and old white men are the best people to decide what happens in a woman’s uterus. In their zeal, the mathematical minority is over-shouting the conversation right now. They are panicking and making mistakes. And people are telling on them.

The Eric Snowdens of the world are forcing into the conversation the most important question of our modern age: Will Truth Really Set Us Free? Believers in world scripture should be able to rest on that article of faith and trust that real honesty will in time equalize and democratize us all. If we have the stomach for it.

Looking behind the Green Curtain is not easy. It’s not supposed to be. The man in the mirror has a flawed complexion. It’s hard to look at sometimes. But it’s our tears which blur the view and distort our reality. We are far more breathtaking than we appear. Our courage makes us beautiful. It burns away the former self like a phoenix.

If we stay the course and celebrate truth where it is known to appear we shall in time rise from this fearful moment. It’s easy to see doom and gloom around us. There’s lots of that message for sale on every channel and website. If you want to buy it, that’s your right. But I encourage you to read between the lines.

We may feel like history constantly repeats itself in an endless cycle. Change your perspective. We are not moving in a circle. We are traveling up a spiral.