A friend's daughter told her that she heard that if the government let Syrian refugees into the country, middle class people would be forced to take them into their homes. Hundreds of thousands believe unsubstantiated statements that when fact checked are found to be false. The assertion that Barack Obama is a Muslim or is not a natural born U. S. citizen was found to have no basis in fact, yet there are still many who fully believe that the assertions are true and the facts are part of a conspiracy. How many people care at all about the truth?
Adolph Hitler is quoted as saying "If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough it will be believed." This has been a technique used by demagogues for centuries. Well-meaning proselytizers and evangelists pass off belief, myth, misinterpretation, hypothesis and fantasy as truth. The less well-meaning make things up to manipulate those who are not motivated to check the facts or who view the facts themselves as lies.
