I have a great niece that I often
frustrate with one simple question. “When does two plus two equal two?” These
days, we’ve been through it so many times that she just looks at me with a
sneer, but in the earlier days, she’d fight me. “It can’t,” she’d say. “Two
plus two equals four!” Then I’d point out that if I have two brown socks and
two blue socks, I have both four socks and two pair of socks. Two
plus two can equal two. Both can be true at the same time.
Then there’s the old white/gold or
blue/black dress thing. Some people perceive it one way and others perceive it
another depending on lighting and how your brain interprets the information it
receives from the light receptors in your eyes. People will almost go to blows
over which perception is correct, which one is true.
Truth has become a touchy concept. Sometimes
we can even convince ourselves of the truthfulness of something we know is a
lie. I remember once being so adamant in telling someone that I didn’t do
something they said I did that I had to remind myself later that I had actually
done it. My denial was a lie, but I’d even convinced my own 8th
grade brain, briefly, that I was telling the truth. (I’ll admit it today. Yes, Irene,
I did leave the necklace as a Christmas gift for your granddaughter on your
porch.)
These days, we all find ourselves
in an age where the truth as a concept is on the endangered species list. AI,
deep fakes, political spinning, conspiracy theories, and plain old lying is
everywhere. It seems prevalent in the world of internet media that if the facts
don’t fit the narrative they prefer, it’s perfectly fine for them to make up a
new set of facts to present instead, passing them off as reality with such
vigor that they even begin to believe their own lies.
To say that I never lie would be a
lie in and of itself. That said, I don’t make it a habit. I’m not very good at
it anyway. I have just enough obsessive compulsiveness in me that being
untruthful will eat at my mind. In general, I tell the truth, or I just don’t
say anything at all. But that doesn’t always work, because I’m not great at
keeping my failures to myself either. To illustrate this, I’ll use the
restaurant “Hooters” as an example. Obviously, the name carries a double
meaning, so my wife gave me a strong message that I didn’t need to be
frequenting a restaurant that projects that image. So I don’t go there. If I
went, my conscience would make me fess up later, so I don’t go. If I stay out
of that establishment, I don’t have to lie and I don’t have to worry about
fessing up. My conscience stays clear.
“You can’t handle the truth!” This
is the iconic line delivered by Jack Nickolson’s character in the movie A
Few Good Men. As I look around at the world today, I think we better
reflect something like “you can’t decipher the truth!” The right wing says they
have it. The left wing says they’re lying. Back and forth it goes. Who’s
telling the truth about anything? How do you figure it out? Am I in an echo
chamber or are you in an echo chamber? Are we both in different echo chambers
and the truth is something else entirely?
Which group is not telling the
truth? The Republicans or the Democrats? I’ll go back to my opening paragraph.
The answer is yes, both. The truth is that both parties have guilty hands (or
tongues) when it comes to operating apart from honesty on any number of issues.
I wish I could say with a clear conscience that the Democrats were the bastions
of verifiable truth, but I’d have to admit my lie, and as I explained, I’d
rather avoid needing to admit that failure on my part.
However, the Republicans are the
party in power right now. And they are not the same party as the one who
elected the Bushes or Ronald Reagan, whether you like those guys or not. This
new Republican party seems to have completely unhinged itself from the fidelity
of even a hint of honesty. The lies flow daily, constantly. From excuses for
unfair firings to cover-ups for deals made behind closed doors; from reasons
for pardoning fraudulent felons, to blame games for the consequences of bungled
decisions. I turn on the news in the evening to catch this administration’s
current list of lies.
And people buy into the lies. That’s
the truly frustrating part.
They hear what they want to hear,
so they fall in line with the deceptive narrative.
I watched with my own two eyes on
live TV as hundreds of people waving various flags and wearing MAGA hats (and
some wearing combat gear) overran the capitol police and stormed the capitol
building on January 6th, 2021. Yet, others will tell you that it was
just a peaceful protest. Nothing to see. No one was doing anything wrong. Those
people breaking windows and beating cops are actually the victims.
President Trump and his team
claimed (and still claim) that despite the Republicans being the party in
power, and despite the government not being able to even deliver the mail
efficiently anymore, somehow the party out-of-power, the Democrats,
orchestrated (across party lines, mind you) the largest and most widespread
conspiracy ever successfully carried out in order to steal the 2020 election.
Say it long enough, say it loud enough, and people will believe anything. I’m
pretty sure that space aliens and some sasquatches were also in on it.
All that said, I think the thing
that gets me the most are the people who should know better. People who should
be anchored to honesty. People for whom lying is a sin. Or people who work in
industries that rely on the integrity of systems, both private and public.
People who have bought into the deceptions despite a previous dedication to
truth. People who have convinced themselves of the truthfulness of the lies. I
just don’t understand it.
Maybe it comes down to whether
people actually love the truth.
They perish because they refused
to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this
reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe
the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who
have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
2 Thessalonians 2:10b-12
This bible passage is referring to
something occurring in the early church, not specifically today’s scenario.
However, I think the concept is the same. I think many in our nation have
fallen under a powerful delusion. Unless we can reawaken a love for truth, I
think our future as a nation is in question. This delusion is putting us all in
jeopardy.
Still, maybe I’m the one in the
echo chamber. Maybe I’m the one under the delusion. If you strongly disagree
with my last few paragraphs, I’m sure that’s what you think. So, let’s all
check ourselves. Let’s all take a hard inward look. Do I love the truth? Am I
willing to check sources? Am I willing to dig a little deeper before I believe
and repost that politically-charged meme? Am I willing to listen to a variety
of news sources? Do I examine the journalistic guardrails that any of my new
sources have in place? Do the words of the Secretary of You-Name-It match what he
or she said previously? How about the President? Do his current explanations
match his previous statements?
We can still sort this all out. All
is not yet lost. But, I think we all need to make a commitment to the truth. No
more spins. No more slants. No more deep fakes. It’s not just about politics
anymore. It’s about whether we genuinely care about truth enough to pop the bubble
of the delusion enveloping our country.
My thoughts for the day.
