This silhouette cut-out of me from first grade reminds me that some things are actually black and white. When it comes to speaking, the Pope ends his prayer with the words, “Where there is falsehood, let us bring truth.” George Orwell, in his famous essay, “Politics and the English Language” written in 1946, carefully elucidates the way language can be used to obfuscate and confuse.
In the United States, at the moment, the president has taken to calling any reports with which he disagrees, “fake news.” In essence, he is accusing most of the press of lying. Language can also be used to disguise the truth. Torture can be renamed “enhanced interrogation. Lying can be called “spin.” Truth can be reshaped as “my truth, ” as though we somehow can make anything true by stating it.
Real truth is pretty straightforward. It is an accurate description of actual events. The climate is changing. One can argue about the cause of the change, but one cannot say that climate change is a hoax and be truthful. Assault weapons were designed to kill people in wars. Saying that regular citizens need to own them is a lie.
May we have the courage to challenge falsehood when we encounter it. May we have the courage to speak truth to power.
Love it! Having said that, I’m not sure that ‘truth’ or reality is always quite so black and white as we sometimes think… how do you know that people see the same colour of blue – or green, or red – as you do???…………. how do you KNOW that a table exists…………..! (sorry – playing devil’s advocate!).
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What is so humorous is that I had the exact same thought about color, since my husband, granddaughter and I can’t settle on the color of the middle traffic light. Lots of truth is anything but clear cut. However, I am thinking a lot about our lying president who just plain lies.
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Powerful and frank expression Elizabeth
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Thanks.
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You are welcome Elizabeth
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