“The
Truth is Out There”
That
phrase has become long associated with the X-Files. It was
really all about the possibilities of extra-terrestrial life
forms. However, modern Western cultures have come to think
about ‘truth' as something that in reality probably doesn't
exist, almost in the same way as extra-terrerrials.
Before
we move in to the main pages of this Apologetics section,
we'd like to just eyeball this idea.
Assertion
1: Everyone
is concerned with truth until it comes to morals or religion.
Now
IF that is so then we have to ask why, to which we have another
assertion:
Assertion
2: Our
rejection of moral or religious truth is on grounds of our
will and not our intellect.
i.e.
we choose not to believe in moral or religious truth
because it makes demands on us.
Check
it out.
Everyday
Life Situations
Observe
this conversations or part conversations:
Example
1:
“Mummy,
it's not fair. Alice
had more sweets than
me!”
i.e.
an appeal to the truth of what happened, for justice to be
done! Even at age 5!!!!
Example
2:
“Jack,
have you been sleeping with your secretary?”
i.e.
a wife's demand for the truth about her husbands unfaithfulness
Example
3:
“Doctor,
I want to know the truth. Have I got cancer?”
i.e.
a patient's demand to know the truth about their health
Example
4:
“Mr.
Jones, as our lawyer, can you explain the small print in this
contract we've been given, please.”
i.e.
a client's demand to know the truth about the implications
of an agreement.
Example
5:
Geoff,
will you give this car a look-over for us please. The guy
who's selling it says it's perfectly OK but something about
him makes me wonder.”
i.e.
appealing to a mechanic to determine the truth about a car's
roadworthiness.
Example
6:
“Excuse
me, Mr. Brown, but I understand Janet is getting £3
an hour more than me for the same job.”
i.e.
an appeal to an employer for the truth about pay differentials.
Example
7:
“We
will be setting up an independent investigation as to the
cause of the rail crash.”
i.e.
a requirement to find the truth about what caused an accident.
Example
8:
“Well,
yes, the producers did choose the winners, and it wasn't anything
to do with the phone-in”
i.e.
confessions of abuses which offend our desire for truth in
TV games-show management, of which there were a large number
in 2007 in the UK.
Example
9:
“Well
yes, I'm afraid your pension plan hasn't left you with as
much as we thought.”
i.e.
confession of insurance salesman trying to appease our demand
for the truth as to why original projections were wrong. Again,
familiar in the early years of the 21st century.
Example
10:
“Well
the label on the bottle didn't say anything about additives
that my child is allergic to!”
i.e.
demand for the truth of labelling on bottles
Example
11:
“You'll
see a gritting sign on the southern road, but don't worry,
they're not doing gritting; it was just left there after they
did it three weeks ago.”
i.e.
acknowledgement that some road signs don't always tell the
truth – but we want them to!
Example
12:
“The
Secretary for State was required to appear before the House
this afternoon to say why he had denied they had been any
misdoings in his department.”
i.e.
recognition that we demand truth be told publicly by our senior
government ministers.
Claims
of a Modern Cynic
These
are the things that are so often said today:
We
don't live like we say
The
twelve examples above challenge these cynical statements.
“What's
right for you may not be right for me.” Really? Try telling
the police that?
“There's
no such thing as right or wrong.” Really? I'm not sure you'll
still think that when your house is burgled or if a loved
one was raped or murdered!
“You
should be tolerant of different people's behaviour.” Really?
Even when that behaviour is evil?
We
speak self-defeating statements
“There
is no such thing as truth” Really, so is that
true?
“All
truth is relative. There are no absolutes.” Really? So that's
not an absolute statement and it's not true? Are you absolutely
sure?
Contradicting
Beliefs cannot both be true
This
is why all religions are NOT the same, in just the same way
that all political parties are not the same.
Why
these silly ways of speaking?
Going
back to the beginning we said that “Our rejection of moral
or religious truth is on grounds of our will and not our intellect.”
The
first reason we say these silly things that are not true (the
claims of the cynic above) is because we don't WANT a belief
system that makes demands of us. We don't like being told
we're wrong. We like to be able to do what we want, even if
it is self-destructive.
The
second reason we deny there are things that are right or wrong,
is because we can only say specific things are right or wrong
if:
Sunday Services
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