The story I'm about to tell you, it's as old as dirt.

And yet, like any great story, it perfectly explains the moment we are currently in.

It's a story about a man and a magical potion.

Something he says will save the world for just a few dollars vial.

But there's a catch.

That potion, it might also kill you.

This is no run-of-the-mill elixir, though.

It's a miracle cure, a cure that people all over the world believe in.

Factions form for and against it.

Spiritual warfare has ignited, at least in places like Reddit and Telegram.

Real damage has been done.

Lies spread.

Lives hang in the balance. It is the story of what happens when

it's hard to sort the facts from the fiction. There's this one video I keep coming back to.

It starts with a black screen, white text. It reads a gross negligence

of the First Amendment, being observed in real time. Real time is in all caps. It flashes on the

screen like a warning and gives you the impression you're about to see some sort of shocking

miscarriage of justice.

You are not.

Anyway, it's dated April 2020, right at the beginning of the pandemic.

You're crossing property, okay?

The video is a grainy handheld recording, probably from a phone.

...