Truth and Our World View

“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others.”

-- Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881), The Brothers Karamazov

There is a site online called "Quora" where folks can ask others for answers, or specifically ask a person for their answer.  When I started answering some of these, I had no idea so many people would specifically ask me for my humble opinion.  "How can the truth change how we see the world?"  This was one question, put to me just recently, and the following was my answer:

Lying is how the world works. All governments lie and cheat their constituents, and those constituents expect it, they watch for it, and they aren’t surprised when they see it. If someone wasn’t prepared for it, well, it says much about their attention. The best we can hope for is to have as much truth as possible. The Democrats in America have a serious credibility problem, the Republicans have significantly less but they still have one.

We wallow in misery perpetuated by the government because this is how the government stays in control of the people, and minority representatives are the worst because they keep their boot firmly planted on the necks of their own people while telling them they’re not equal when the truth is that slavery never ended, the color of the master simply changed. This is why the Democrat Party, the Party of Jim Crow and the KKK, morphed from racists to have such a large minority following: Promise everything, but if you keep them fed and ignorant you’ll have a voter for life. Their own minority representatives know this, and it keeps their coffers full and their BS spewing forth like a ruptured sewer main.

Only truth will set you free, and if you can’t believe your own people what does that say about truth, or freedom?

What we do is believe what we are told by people we expect to tell us the truth.  The fact that people have hidden agendas never occurs to many of us and, if it does, we dismiss it because we want to believe the best, not the worst.  Governments lie to us all the time, and the best example of what I just said is getting a President in office who really his country and wants to get rid of all the bullshit and having the opposite political party spend four years trying to convince the people the opposite instead of working with him to make our country greater than its ever been.

We had a Civil War that was fought over economics, yet many would try to convince us the primary reason was slavery.  If we fought the war over slavery why did both Presidents consider freeing the slaves three years into the fighting?  Lincoln beat David to the punch, but why didn't Lincoln free the slave from the onset?  Because it wasn't about slavery.  If it was, Lincoln would not have set a colored regiment into Louisiana to roundup "ex-slaves" and send them to Mississippi in order to pick the cotton the North fought and died for.  It makes more sense to emancipate first, then declare war on those who don't, but it seems the winner of conflict determines history.  

History is a concept best concerned with truth, but it would seem some factions in the United States are all about tearing down things that would teach history, whether good or bad.  Emblems are not necessarily symbols.  Symbols are things that reflect beliefs and without that belief, it becomes just an emblem.  What people who tear down history are saying is, we're too stupid to tell the difference; we'de rather keep the symbol alive through are stupidity than understand it and make it an emblem of a bygone era which we can learn from.  The Nazi swastika is an example.  Europe should have a giant statue of Hitler so no one forgets the horrors the Nazi regime visited upon the world.  If you forget history you are doomed to repeat it.

“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.”

-- Joe Klaas, author, Twelve Steps to Happiness

We have a political party in this country that denies history, and how far equality has progressed here.  They constantly try to convince people that racism is growing.  It is disconcerting to me that this is the party that fostered slavery, the party of Jim Crow, and the KKK, yet minorities flock to them like flies to shit.  Never mind that history states the other party is the party that fought the battles for freedom, equality, and civil rights.  And, even more disconcerting, are the minority representatives who keep their boot planted firmly on the necks of their minority constituents so they can reap the benefits and stay in political office while they accomplish little of substance for their own.  There are also Christian minority "reverends" who also foster this negative viewpoint simply for the popularity and money it garners them.  This is just sad.

People believe the bullshit because they're too lazy to research and understand the truth, even when their own people tout it.  We still have people who are racists; there will always be racists, a sad fact of life.  But, to deny how far we have progressed is to foster greater negativity than exists cleaves a divide between good people not founded in any semblance of truth.

“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.”

-- Winston S. Churchill  (1874-1965), Prime Minister of Great Britain

We look for truth in the worst of places, our news media.  We expect facts, so we look for these "facts" in whichever news outlet will print what we want to hear, nevermind that its pure bullshit.  I want to read the news, and I want that news backed up by facts, not opinion.  If it's based on supposition because facts are few, then this needs to be stated up front, not buried at the end or conveniently left out altogether.

Russian author and journalist, Fyodor Dostoevsky, wrote in his novel The Brothers Karamazov, “Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others.”  I try not to lie to myself.  To that end, I am a self-admitted hypocrite.  Don't do as I do, do as I say.  I absolutely know wrong from right, and doing either is a matter of conscious choice.  By making a choice it is incumbent upon each of us to own the choice we make.

“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”

-- George Orwell (1903-1950), author, journalist, social critic

Making good choices will help us ferret out the bad.  It will also require us to research everything before we believe it.  If you always seek the truth, you will never have to remember your lies.  People, especially Politicians, tend to forget this, and the fact that everything is now recorded for posterity.

The gentleman who asked me for my answer to the question he posed on Quora must have liked my answer because he "upvoted" it.  I try not to color my thoughts or veil my answers; it accomplishes nothing but muddy the water.  Most people I hang around with are smart enough to see through the bullshit, even the intelligent bullshit.  It is amazing how it's usually the "intelligent" people who try to bull shit and its the smart people who call them down on it.

How truth can change how we see the world is pretty obvious.  The problem is taking the time to find the truth.  If we all researched what is put forward so we can determine the validity of it for ourselves, we would be so much smarter when we make decisions.  Don't simply believe what you read or hear.  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't.  If it sounds like something a person wouldn't do, they probably didn't.  And last, but never least, there is no such thing as a free lunch; we print money based on nothing but a promise.  Does this not bother anybody? 

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.”

-- Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), lawyer, political ethicist

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with the United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead Chaplain and Chaplain Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.