“Better to be slapped with the truth than kissed with a lie.”
Russian proverb
Pravda (the Truth) has many brothers and sisters, but strangely enough they don’t seem to be related. They bear the same name but they often don’t look or sound alike.
How could that be?
It might be because the French truth (la Vérité), the German truth (die Wahrheit), the American Truth, the Arabic truth and many relatives of this extended family are on barely speaking terms. They don’t believe their crumby relatives.
This kind of things happens in many families.
First of all, what is the definition of truth?
It seems that this word has many different interpretations.
“Conform to fact or actuality”
“The real facts about something”
“A verified or indisputable fact”
Hum…
Then, where do we get the Truth?
In the olden days we found it in newspapers.
My own mother often said, “If it is in the newspaper, it has to be the truth”.
Hum again…
Nowadays, fewer people read newspapers and many get their facts from television or the Internet.
They in turn get their facts from reporters, and reporters can be highly opinionated.
Depending on where they stand during a confrontation, they can report the same event in a widely different manner. But they always tell the truth don’t they, because they were there!
The truth is also conditioned by your environment.
If you are born into a Jewish family, your truth will be different from the truth of an Arab family.
Similarly if you are black, your truth will be different from a white family.
Truth is very pliable. That’s why people love it so much. Like plastic explosive, it can be molded into all kinds of different shapes and blow up those heathens who don’t believe your particular truth.
But in spite of its shortcomings, truth still has many adherents.
All the world leaders profess to be fond of it
They have said one time or the other:
“You must believe what I say, for I alone am in possession of the truth”
“Those who do not believe are our enemies and must be treated accordingly”
“Alternate viewpoints must be eradicated. No dissension can be tolerated. Nothing can be allowed to stand in the way of the truth”
It is evident that these people like the truth!
Ahmadinejad denied that the Holocaust ever occurred. That’s his truth!
His successor Hassan Rouhani while acknowledging that some nasty business might have occurred in Europe during WWII is a “moderate Holocaust denier”. He is not sure where the truth is.
The 9/11 Truth movement asserted that George W. Bush deliberately allowed the attack on the World Trade Center towers to happen. That’s their truth.
The Creationists don’t believe in the Big Bang. It is not their truth.
The Government is not telling us what they know about UFO’s.
Naughty boys…
Truth is like beer. Bitter at first, but eventually drinkable.
After a while one becomes accustomed to swallow all kinds of truths without batting an eyelash.
And that’s what leaders are aiming for.
Getting close and flirting with the truth is exciting but also inherently dangerous.
Some rival truth lovers might become jealous and decide to eliminate somebody preaching an incorrect brand of truth.
Personally I don’t believe that Truth exists.
Just like Paradise, I believe that the Big T is a myth created by zealots.
Like Elvis it is seen and heard everywhere, but nobody can tell for sure who the real McCoy is.
Isn’t it the truth?
Alain La Foudre