Truth
(definition): that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality. God’s truth.
Jesus told the truth. He said, “I am
the way, the truth and the life.” He was crucified.
The American founders told the truth,
including that humans are born with inalienable rights granted by their
Creator. They were harassed, hunted down, vilified, called traitors, had their
homes burned down, etc.
Abraham Lincoln told the truth, including that
slavery is a great evil. He was/is, in fact, known as “Honest Abe.” He was
assassinated.
Ronald
Reagan told the truth: that government is the problem in many instances, that free
market systems work best, that the U.S. would prevail and the U.S.S.R. would be
left on the ash-heap of history, and that we are no more than one generation
away from losing our freedoms, among others. (Hell, it’s happened within 4
months now.) He was less than an inch away from being assassinated.
Martin
Luther King, Jr., told the truth: a person should not be judged by the color of
their skin, but by the content of their character. He was assassinated.
Today,
even amidst a plethora of hyperboles and border-line untruths, President Donald
Trump is telling the big truths: those pertaining to China, the economy,
so-called liberals, the media, etc. Numerous academics, “entertainers,” and
assorted statists, anarchists and elite power brokers/takers openly and
endlessly fantasize about his demise.
Tucker
Carlson tells the truth, dares to “speak truth to power,” including Trump,
in the preferred vernacular of 1960s liberals. He and his family have been repeatedly threatened.
George
Orwell once noted: “The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it
will hate those that speak it.” It was always thus. Today we are told by the
mainstream media that those burning buildings and rioting in our streets on
behalf of George Floyd are white supremacists. We can clearly see that this is
not the case. Unless white supremacists are mostly black. This is not a racist
statement, just a fact. Yet we are told by reporters standing in front of
burning buildings and looted out areas rife with vile graffiti that the
protesters have been “mostly peaceful.” Except for the wily, invisible white
supremacists, of course.
Truth is
not in vogue at the moment. It has been supplanted by tolerance, except for
tolerance of the truth, ironically. Which is why the government is
ruthless in punishing those who go against social distancing orders, but
utterly unwilling to prosecute those summarily destroying American cities. Will
we survive? Can a nation that values tolerance over truth long endure? (Remember,
President Reagan said we are never more than one generation away from losing
our freedoms.) Frankly, to tell the truth, it doesn’t look good.
There is no “your
truth” or “my truth,” “his truth” or “her truth.” There is no “black people’s
truth” or “Irish pangender people named Patty’s truth.” How do we know this? Because,
though one can say that 2+2 doesn’t equal 4, water isn’t necessary for human
survival, or the Earth is flat, each of those things are still true. “Your
truth” might be that fire isn’t hot. But stick your hand in it and it will
still get burned. Etc., etc.
We can pretend that evil doesn’t
exist. We can pretend that socialism is the best political system. We can
pretend we are certain that the Earth will warm by, say, 2.1 degrees Celsius by
2100. We can pretend that there is no difference between males and females. We
can pretend that abortion is a human right, but defending oneself, one’s family
and one’s property against violent trespassers is not. We can pretend that the
marriage of one man to two penguins is just as natural, valid and valuable to
society as that of one man to one woman. But that simply doesn’t make it so.
Fake news may be news, but it is fake, nonetheless.
The truth is: the truth is.
It is up to us to recognize it. Deal with it.
Embrace it. And tell it. No matter what.
Or watch the last best hope of Earth
slowly, painfully expire.
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