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July 29, 2003 Truth is an interesting concept, because it is only efficacious for those who can respond to it as meaningful. That is, it must be interpreted as meaningful and needed in the light of ultimate truth. Those who cannot accept ultimate truth, have no need for any truth, except it be useful to themselves at the moment. If facts are contrary to one's world-view and intentions, then they can often be ignored ... even for years and maybe for a life-time. People living in a closed, isolated and detached setting will have a commonsense that will be different than the denotations of others outside of that setting. For instance, if in a village, 30 miles outside of Kathmandu, one was given 5 loaves of bread by asking for 3 loaves of bread, it would be of benefit to ask for 3 if one wanted 5 loaves. This would be mathematical survival-of- the-fittest. Those who asked for 5 loaves, and received only one, would soon starve to death. Those of us who are somewhat comfortable with there being ultimate truth are repulsed by such a scenario, but if it means we can eat and stay alive, then 3=5 is a good thing. Ludicrous? Yes, of course it is ludicrous, but events and practices can be truly ludicrous. Truth is not destroyed or even injured by craziness, it can just apply its force in another form. This form is known as 'judgment' in the Holy Scriptures. Well, we say, the educated and cultured would never put up with such a thing; but the situation in Iraq hints at this proposition being untrue. While the Iraqis are not the most educated and cultured people around, they are no slouches. Still, I watched with amazement when Secretary Rumsfeld decided to publish the photos of Uday and Qusay in order to prove them dead. Wouldn't DNA charts have been a lock on the truth of their deaths? No, the argument goes, cutting-edge science would be meaningless to the Iraqi people. Meaningless truth? -- Yes. The photos, to us in the West, would seem to clinch the debate over who is dead. Yet, the photos of dead men, involved in the losing-end of a fire-fight, were not enough to convince many Iraqis. The wounds and swollen flesh of the brothers served only to disguise the tyrants. The Americans (bless their hearts), with their trust in science and technology, decided to clean-up and make-nice the bodies of the tyrants. This only meant, however, that we now presented four bodies to the Iraqi people. Yet, the Iraqis know full-well that there were only 2 sons of Saddam. Objectively speaking, I also saw four different looking bodies, so what kind of game is Secretary Rumsfeld playing with me? Actually, the West, being on the verge of giving up any idea of ultimate truth, is playing with itself. Even those in the West, who hate the West, can catch a scent of the aroma of ultimate truth, redolent of Judeo-Christianity and its precepts. When those in the West get a bit disoriented, they rush back to the safe aroma of truth. They think it safe to accept one truth, for reasons of sanity, but to reject dozens of other truths. How shocked some Americans must have been to realize that many Iraqis believed they saw four bodies. Even in Iraq, 2+2=4; and this is the problem with objective truth. Objective truth can be useless, or, in the hands of masters like Goebbels and Clinton, it can be employed in terrifying sophistication. Well, you say, objective truth may be able to stand alone 30 miles outside of Kathmandu, or in Iraq, but we Westerners are more cultured and educated than most. Actually, education and culture have little to do with being able to tell objective truth from operative truth. Goebbels and Clinton really did come to power --- in the West. Germany led the way because they were the first to, en masse, give up on there being any real ultimate truth. Nietzsche, Darwin, and Freud were so embraced by the German people that truth became what they said and believed it to be. Even though the Germans were the most educated and cultured people in the West, they still put Hitler into power. The National-Socialists had a cynical disregard for operative truth. Objective truth, on the other hand, was used by Goebbels to drive-home most of his perversions. Today this is called 'spin'. It's amazing and precious to watch Americans watching Iraqis responding to the four bodies in the photos. At least the Iraqis have a good excuse for their cock-eyed response to truth. They have spent decades in blood-curdling fear and torture, and should be expected to act in a strange fashion. What's America's excuse for accepting 40 years of secular-socialist spin? Why do we drop our national draws in a crowded room and call it enlightenment? Who voted into office people with a cynical disregard for operative truth? I suggest we look through our windows or maybe even in our mirrors. The ability to understand the difference between objective truth and operative truth, is the ability to have a Representative Republic. An education that teaches about how easily objective truth can be spun, is part of a true education. In America, where up has become down, good has become bad, responsibility has become victim- hood. and right has become wrong, it's precious watching us cast an eye over toward the Iraqis as they try to figure-out who's dead. The Iraqis have a good excuse for being confused...what's ours? ------------ About the author: Joe Magoo is trained as a Theologian and Church Historian. He resides on Long Island, N.Y. He's in love with Ann Coulter, but she's seven feet tall, and Joe is only Five-Five. Email: joe572001us@yahoo.com Comment on this column in the forum. Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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