What is the difference between “Truth and Fact?” On the surface that may sound like a silly question, but it is not. About a year ago in Iowa some people snickered when Democrat Presidential Candidate, Joe Bidden, said the following: “We choose truth over facts.” Was that a typical Joe Bidden “gaffe?” When I first heard that my initial reaction was that is was, but then I gave the matter some thought a few months later and reached a different conclusion; it was a “Freudian Slip.”
A Freudian slip, by definition, is an error in speech, memory, or physical action that occurs due to the interference of an unconscious subdued wish or internal train of thought. Now, think about that for just a moment. People often reveal their true nature by their own words. I am fully convinced that Joe Biden actually does choose “Truth over Facts,” and that statement speaks volumes about the reality of the political world in which we live today.
In George Orwell’s almost prophetic novel, “1984,” we see a time in a totalitarian regime where there is a “Ministry of Truth.” If you know anything about this novel, you realize that the Ministry of Truth is nothing of the sort. It creates its own “truth” that you are expected to simply believe. “Truth” not grounded in facts is propaganda, and often is in contradiction of the facts. Our American Public Educational System has become the greatest source of political propaganda and unsubstantiated truth. Our young people are no longer given the tools to make rational and informed decisions, everything is now based on feelings, emotions, and a one-sided political narrative.
Let me give you a classic example I have experienced firsthand on several occasions. Many high school graduates and college students toss around terms like “Being Validated,” or all opinions are valid (accept conservative) and you must accept them at face value. I asked a recent high school graduate what that meant, and I was informed that everyone’s opinion is their own personal “truth.” “Really?” I remarked. I then asked the question and said “2 +2 equals 4, is that true?” The answer astounded me. I was told that 2 + 2 can be whatever you want it to be. I said, “So, if I say that 2 + 2 equals 17, is that true?” The answer was “Yes, because that’s your opinion, and your opinion (like the recent graduate’s) MUST be validated. In other words, everyone is entitled to their own truth, regardless of the facts.
Facts are the greatest enemy of subjective truth. That is why so much of Social Media shuts down people sharing facts, particularly if those facts defy the politically correct narrative, or the chosen agenda. The reality is that facts do not change, but “truth” is now relative. When “truth” and “facts” become mutually exclusive, we have embarked on a highway to tyranny where you are forced to accept “truth” not based in fact. Those on the left of the political spectrum really do value (their) Truth over Facts! Second Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but, having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” In other words, they accept a new “truth.”
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Most Excellent post sir! Looking forward to more Fr. Bob!
Thank you for taking the time to give me the needed “boost” to keep on keeping on.