The Corruption of Truth
Thought I would make a few comments on this quote I posted:
“Two plus two equals four and nothing else, though corrupt thinking says otherwise.”
It may seem to some that this is a rigid statement that belongs to the religious camp that insists that they are right and everyone else is wrong, but such is far from the case.
The fact is that when you have two sides to any issue there will be elements of truth and error presented by them both. To take a truth presented by an opposing side and oppose it just because it is used by them is a fallacy or a guilt by association approach which is very deceptive.
Let us take Hitler, for example, who most see as an evil character. He approved and endorsed the production of the first Volkswagen Bug. The Beetle turned out to be the longest-running and most-manufactured car of a single platform ever made.
Does this mean that all those millions who bought the car and loved it are evil Nazis?
Of course not. In this case guilt by association seems ridiculous yet many fall prey to its misuse, some by ignorance yet others through clever manipulation.
I point this out because statements of absolute truth are often seen by alternative spiritual people as something that belongs to old time religion that must be replaced by relative truth. They correctly see that there are many paths that give us true direction on the path to liberation as opposed to one path as presented by some religions.
What is overlooked is that there are points of absolute truth on any path as well as absolute falsehoods. All paths are composed of much truth mixed with error and discerning the difference is the great challenge.
The fundamentalist claiming that his path is 100% error free is where the mistake is. His mistake is not associated with the concept of truth itself.
A Course in Miracles makes the profound statement that “the truth is true and nothing else is true.”
If we look at a simple statement like 2+2=4 then this becomes obvious. 2+2=4 and nothing else is true. One could give a trillion different answers, but only one is true.
This is the case with all basic math and the universe is built upon mathematical principles.
Why then do so many people take exception to the idea of absolute truth?
The answer lies in semantics. The problem lies in how people see truth in their own minds. We often hear statements such as, “You have your truth and I have mine.” Others may say that truth changes with time and is relative.”
What they leave out of the equation is that it is not truth that changes but the perception of truth as well as circumstances.
If it was a high of 60 degrees yesterday and 70 today this does not mean the truth changed. Even though it is 70 degrees today, it is still true that it was 60 degrees yesterday. Changing of the circumstances did not change the truth but a new true circumstance instead was created.
And when people talk about your truth and my truth they are not talking about real truth, but merely their own perception of the truth, which could be miles from the actual true reality.
Thus when people talk about relative truth they are merely talking about relative perception and not truth itself.
What we perceive and interpret to be truth is often far from the real truth.
So then, where does the corruption of truth fit in, especially in today’s world where we have the most pervasive political war going on in recorded history?
Is one side all right and the other all wrong?
That is not the problem. The problem is that a corruption of truth causes them to see things so differently that they cannot reach reasonable compromise.
And what causes this corruption?
It is the mixture of truth and error on both sides. Let us say there are ten main points in an argument and seven are true. Three are not true at all but give the appearance of truth. These three can corrupt the presentation of the seven items that are true.
Then in other cases an ironclad truth may be presented that runs counter to a bias. In this case the bias person will ignore or dismiss the truth.
To escape corruption, that which has been proven to be true must be separated from that which is theory or opinion. Uncorrupted truth must be the driver of conclusion rather than opinion or personality reaction.
Let us focus on a specific truth.
It is indeed a true fact that for the truth of a dispute to be fully revealed that both sides have to be presented. If only one side is allowed to be heard then much that is true will be suppressed.
For instance, in the days of Galileo it was believed that the earth was the center of the universe and anyone who made an argument to the contrary risked his freedom or life. Then along came Galileo with his telescope which gave them absolute proof they were wrong. Well, there is nothing more dangerous than proving an accepted authority wrong and he was attacked and forced to recant.
Fortunately, the truth was not entirely suppressed for many others made telescopes and saw for themselves that Galileo was correct.
But imagine how much different the world would be today if the Vatican scientists had their way and were totally successful in only allowing one side to be discussed. We may still be struggling in the dark ages.
There are many today who are like the Vatican scientists who think the truth is settled and no other discussion need be allowed. Many want to go so far as criminalizing speech and ideas they do not want to hear.
Today many in the media are banning or censoring opinions and even hard facts they do not want to hear.
Let us pick one that crosses political boundaries – the vaccination debate.
The leader voicing skepticism toward the vaccination system is the prominent liberal, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In this opposition he is joined by many conservatives.
The desire of these people seems pretty reasonable. They want to give out all known facts and studies on vaccines as well as have the freedom to accept or reject having them themselves.
Their problem is that the consensus of Big Pharma, the media and many in government is that the truth is settled, the skeptics are dangerous and their views need to be suppressed.
Big Pharma uses some truth in their presentations to make the case that free speech is dangerous and needs to be controlled. This results in the many arms of the media banning any presentation that even hints that any vaccine or multiples thereof are dangerous.
Now another may agree in this case but state that opposition of his pet belief is indeed dangerous and does need to be suppressed.
This has been the disproven throughout history and the result of suppression has always been an increase in darkness rather than light.
We need to let all views be heard and have faith that the common sense of the people will prevail.
Consider how the Ku Klux Klan was destroyed of its power in the latter 1920s. It was not weakened because of restrictions of speech but through free expression. Their deeds were exposed and their ideas ridiculed, often with humor. The KKK lost in the realm of free expression of ideas and their results.
We are drifting away from this to where opposing ideas are seen as dangerous and need to be suppressed at best or prosecuted at worst.
The elements of truth are found in both sides of a disagreement so to minimize the corrupt use of the true elements on the dominating side the challenging side must be able to express their views as well.
For additional thoughts on the principles behind truth check out post numbers 107, 108, 109 and 373 at this link:
Oct 10, 2020
Copyright By J J Dewey
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