Perhaps we should refrain from seeing the news from Meta in strictly left-coded or right-coded ways….We should see it as a renaissance of basic common sense, a summoning of procedural fairness, and an invocation of classic constitutional principles of free speech to refine public discourse in more equalizing ways.

Some quotes we come across in our lives serve as continual reminders of what matters and what should guide our lives, particularly as Christians. William F. Buckley Jr. (one of my intellectual heroes) once made the following observation about the place of truth in history: “The most casual student of history knows that, as a matter of fact, truth does not necessarily vanquish. What is more, truth can never win unless it is promulgated. Truth does not carry within itself an antitoxin to falsehood. The cause of truth must be championed, and it must be championed dynamically.”

There is a profound Christian truth embedded in Buckley’s claim. The point of his axiom is that ever since Genesis 3, truth does not just surface and defend itself. The truth is at a deficit in a world governed by evil. Evil, lies, and falsehood are the default. That truth emerges at all is evidence of God’s common grace, that God, in His kindness, suppresses what is natural to fallen humanity by gracing us with the ability to know the truth. But the truth must be “promulgated,” according to Buckley, and it must be “championed dynamically.” In an age of deceit, it will take more work for the truth to surface and win out than for lies.

The truth of Buckley’s phrase is worth reflecting on in greater detail in the aftermath of this week’s news that Meta (the owner of Facebook and Instagram) would repeal its fact-checking and censorship regime. It is hard to understate just how significant this policy change is.

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