“Truth Detour - Road Closed”

“Truth Detour - Road Closed”

Recently while driving there appeared a sign, “Detour Ahead.”  Soon another appeared “Detour Ahead” and then a sign that read, “Road Closed.”  Not being familiar with the area did not help matters.  As you might suppose the road was indeed closed and with such being so, a fair amount of back tracking became necessary.

In the course of seeking genuine reality/truth one travels many roads.  However, what is most disconcerting is to encounter someone who claims a willingness to travel any road necessary but soon erects “Road Closed” signs. 

How can such be so?  It seems that if one is a genuine seeker of ultimate truth, that person would be willing to take any road necessary and then follow that road wherever necessary.  Sadly such is not so!

There are those who fall within the Reverend George McDonald* observation,

“To give truth to him who loves it not is to only give him more multiplied reasons for misinterpretation.” 

How does one know if they are dealing with one who will seek truth no matter where the road leads and no matter the costs involved?  You can most often identify those who are in such honest pursuit as they exhibit certain qualities.  At this point it must be said that no one possess or is possessed of perfect integrity—all are fallible.

THE ROADBLOCKS TO REALITY

The pseudo-seekers of reality share several qualities, among them are the following.

Dismissive:  To immediately dismiss a potential threat to one’s truth paradigm is often counterproductive.  The person who would seek genuine truth is one who submits all to careful examination no matter the outcome.

Existential superiority:  In a recent interaction a significant body of information was dismissed based upon one’s experience.  The notion of personal experience trumping the veracity of a truth claim is dangerous for reasons that will be explain below.

Explicitness:  Any profitable interchange deals in specific subject matter.  To cast generalities back and forth serves little in the pursuit of truth as both the late Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins amply demonstrate.

Fair exchange:  There is a great difference between argument and attack.  It is one thing to question the foundation, logic, and conclusion of an argument and it is something else to argue with innuendo, misstatement, projection, and misrepresentation.  Such interactions are nothing other than attack as opposed to sincere quest for truth.

Vulnerability:  Because at times truth is illusive there are those who will take a chance, pass a “Road Closed” sign, travel that new road, think a new thought, come to a new conclusion, be faced by a new finding, and most of all they are willing to challenge and have their conclusions challenged.

THE EXAMINATION OF GENUINE TRUTH

The genuine seekers of reality share several qualities, among them are the following.

Foundation:  Sound conclusions are built upon sound presuppositions.  When one encounters a new truth paradigm, it is well to ask, “What is necessary for such to be true?”  If the foundation is faulty then there is a very strong possibility that the structure of the argument is going to be faulty.

Logical consistency:  If truth is genuine, the pathway to that truth has a certain logical consistency.  In that vein, one is wise to carefully insure that a seeming illogical argument is not dismissed for other than logical fallacy.

The Comparative Measure:  To verify a truth claim, it must be compared to, based upon, and in sync with a known and verifiable truth.  All else is theory until proven otherwise.  This very often is where the one claiming an existential foundation for truth runs into difficulties for such is without connection to verifiable and proven realtiy.

So here is the question.  Passing all of the signs along the roadway to truth, how have your beliefs fared.  Did they stand up to the test or do they need to be re-examined?

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*The Scottish Reverend George MacDonald was an accomplished author, poet, and writer of fantasy literature.  It is said that Lewis Carroll was influenced by his writings and thus wrote the wonderful, “Alice in Wonderland.”  Others fell under his influence to include C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.

"When Deception Becomes Reality"

Deception is Birthed

 

There is no more serious matter than when deception becomes so ingrained in one’s thinking that it assumes the posture and place of genuine reality.  This is the outcome when one relies so totally upon his or her own mental content and process that there is little room for outside interference and thus intervention. 

Most certainly mental-intellectual function is comprised of at least two separate but related elements.  First there is the content—those things one learns and/or experiences.  Such is than gathered into a set or sets of data or facts.  Second, there is the process or how one acts upon the content.

A breakdown in either area, if left unchecked will result in the most dire of outcomes.  Pushed out to its eventual ends, that breakdown will result in one who is so deceived that the “false” has become the “genuine” and the "genuine" then becomes the "false."

Falsehood Leads Away From the Genuine

Said another way, this is the condition of the person who has come to believe a “falsehood” so thoroughly and deeply that it has gained a measure of control over that person’s life.  Thus there is no volitional capability to question the content or processes of that belief.  Such belief then assumes the great power of reality.  Now to be sure it may not be genuine reality but it assumes the posture of the genuine and the power thereof. 

What is the outcome?  Right and correct belief has the power to lead to greater and deeper insights into reality.  Wrong and incorrect belief has the power to lead into greater and deeper deception and in doing so leads one away from genuine truth.

Exclusive Truth

However, at this point an interesting dynamic begins to unfold.  It is that of superior exclusive truth.  That is to say the one caught in this trap begins to make exclusive truth claims to the point that such a person may even claim superior understanding(s) that are not available to others.   

Illogical Logic Then Isolates

As the process continues to deepen, such an one begins to invest much in such “false” reality that it becomes logical.  Now it may not be logical to others but it is to that person.  The outcome is that person becomes isolated in their illogical notions.  However, once again the process does not end there but continues on.

That “truth,” as false as it is has becomes so real that it now is the paradigm, through which life is viewed.  An attendant outcome is that the one who holds such “false” reality can no longer see nor embrace genuine truth.  Thus there is no challenge and therefore nothing to hold at bay, the ever deepening decent into deception. 

A Sobering Warning to All

While this is not the sum of all the Apostle Paul had to say on the matter in Romans 1, it certainly is a part of that of which he wrote as directed by the Spirit of the Lord.  Such a warning is not limited to those who reject the notion of God but to all who deal in that which is not genuine.  Thus it should be a sobering warning to all.