The Truth Is...

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.