Pondering TRUTH

A friend and mentor recently posed four significant questions to me about the nature of truth. These questions were thought-provoking and aided me in concentrating on the essential aspects of my search for truth. I am now sharing my responses with everyone.

1.?????? How do you convince people that truth matters?

We do not exist as a society without TRUTH; the pursuit of truth is indeed a fundamental aspect of human society and its progress. It’s a bold and necessary quest that underpins our scientific endeavors, our legal systems, and our daily decision-making.??? Everything we rely on, every bit of information, all scientific principles, our ability to make correct decisions, and our belief in God all depend upon TRUTH. The search for TRUTH can lead to significant improvements in our lives by enabling informed decisions, fostering innovation, and creating a more just society.

The world is based upon TRUTH and the pursuit of it. If you were called to testify in court you will be asked to raise your right hand and “swear to tell the TRUTH, the whole TRUTH, and nothing but the TRUTH, so help you God!” You are to testify to who you saw, doing what and when. You will not be permitted to offer an opinion, say what you thought happened, or offer anything that you did not witness yourself. This is TRUTH and why it matters.

2. ???Does absolute truth exist?

Absolutely! Something is either true or it is not. There are only two possible answers to these perspectives – yes or no. There is either absolute truth, something that is always true at all times and places, or there is not. To argue with certainty that there is no such thing as absolute truth is to make an absolute truth claim and is thus self-refuting. Therefore, the only option remaining is that absolute truth does exist.

I started trying to define TRUTH from a philosophical perspective and the more I pursued the knowledge of TRUTH, the more I realized how poor a job I did with this definition. Through this pursuit I have concluded three key points:

·???????? TRUTH is sought after, even if we do not fully understand it,

·???????? There is only one TRUTH, and

·???????? TRUTH is intolerant; anything else is simply wrong.

The second point is, I believe, key…there is only one TRUTH.?Perhaps an illustration can explain this the best. There is a guessing game often played at wedding showers or similar events where a number of objects, say Hershey Kisses, are placed in a large, sealed container and you are given the opportunity to write down on a slip of paper how many you believe it contains. The closet to the real number, without going over, wins the Kisses. Someone put the Kisses in the container and knows the correct number of Kisses, the TRUTH.?This number is the only TRUTH.?Any other number is wrong!

On the other hand, those in attendance may be asked to write down their favorite song or recording artist on a piece of paper.?Here there are no wrong answers, no TRUTH for everyone, because answers are subject to personal experiences, judgements, and emotional responses.?There is no absolute TRUTH because the answers are subjective.

Many people are trying to subvert the TRUTH and get you to believe in something else, that TRUTH is subjective.?Here is another illustration to consider. One bullet is loaded into the cylinder of a pistol and the cylinder is spun. There is a one-in-six chance that the bullet will fire when the trigger is pulled. If someone would put the barrel of the gun to their head before pulling the trigger it would be considered a “foolish behavior” and very risky. With each pull of the trigger the odds go up to where, if it has not yet fired, the odds are one hundred percent that the gun will fire. What is the TRUTH?

This is the dangerous game that we often play with TRUTH. Any trigger pull might cause the gun to fire, but we risk listening to opinions, odds and reasoning that might have you believe otherwise.?There are even some that might suggest that there is a chance that the gun may misfire even when you are at the sixth pull of the trigger.

So much of our world today promotes lies, false information, and outright deception that we are finding it hard to find the absolute TRUTH. Advertising, politics, popular culture, and even so-called scientific evidence frustrates us, presents false expectations, and bends reality. Do we continue to seek TRUTH, or do we accept what we are told to be TRUTH?

3.?? ?How does conscience connect with Truth?

Within each of us is a sense of right and wrong that was established through several different factors such as culture, religious foundations, and parental guidance. ?What we call conscience?describes two things – what a person believes is right and how a person decides what is right. More than just ‘gut instinct’, our?conscience?is a ‘moral muscle’. By informing us of our values and principles, it becomes the standard we use to judge whether our actions are ethical.

This is one aspect of TRUTH that I need to explore more because it becomes embroiled in various theories put forth about TRUTH. Vincent Van Gough once said that “Conscience is a Man’s compass.” It has also been recognized by Carl Olson, in his publication Simply Catholic, as a “as a guide that helps us recognize TRUTH, rather than create it.” Dan Vis, in his article Truth and Conscience, has described conscience as “the basis of discerning TRUTH.”

Conscience is, I believe, the key junction point between TRUTH and the facts and evidence we use to discover it. We can, if we dig deep enough, come to the OneTRUTH, the TRUTH of God. Conscience, I believe, is the Spirit of God living within us.

4.? ?What do we do when someone believes a lie and is convinced that it is truth?

This is very difficult to overcome because it hits at the very heart of who we are. We?believe lies?when we feel too vulnerable to allow the?TRUTH?and all its consequences into our lives. When?TRUTH?does emerge, we feel betrayed, and we lose faith in our own ability to make good decisions. To protect against this pain, we create walls around what we believe.

Mark Twain once said, “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” Perhaps we can take the same approach with TRUTH. People must discover TRUTH for themselves, but we can help them get there by asking the right questions. I have been calling this OneTRUTH Leadership and have employed several different methods and techniques to help people arrive at TRUTH. Like any problem, we must get to the root causes of their belief. Why do they believe what they do? How did their belief originate? What ideas and facts are the foundation of what they believe.

It is slow and deliberate, and the TRUTH is that we may never be able to have someone believe that something is the TRUTH. Their lies have, in these cases, become their reality.

Thank you, Karl, for asking me these questions and challenging me to share these thoughts. I will continue to pursue TRUTH and these questions as I continue my journey to discover TRUTH. I invite you to come along for the ride.