Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world…would do this, it would change the earth. ~ William Faulkner
Equity, justice and parity no longer appear to be considerations for assigning blame. Today’s criteria seem to include the depth of corporate pockets, the degree of melodrama that can be sucked out of anything, related or not to the truth, and the agenda of opportunists.
This is a major concern in today’s culture. Disinformation has evolved into false information and blatant deception from our leaders down to the guy slumped before the TV in his living room. The media that I once thought of as caretakers of the truth, has sold out to sensationalism, high ratings and who knows what else.
It is past time for us to recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights because we are bound together by our destinies. Freedom that only inquires what’s in it for me without concern for others, devoid of love, charity, duty, loyalty or patriotism is undeserving of our instituting ideals and those who gave their lives in its defense.
The saddest outcome is that people accept what they hear or read without investigating its validity. Nowadays, serial lies appear to be a foolproof way of influence. The result is chaos, suspicion and cynicism. I never thought I would ever describe our country in those terms.
I rebuff the cultural relativism belief that moral decisions depend upon time and place and that rightness or wrongness derives only from the customs of individual Societies. The rightness or wrongness of any act is not dependent upon how many people support it.
So, what do we do when our country, our superiors, our friends tells us to do something we recognize as wrong? To whom do we turn to lead us toward truth?
Can we depend on global societies to find the resolve, purpose and moral destiny to honor transcendent truth before it is too late? A start is to call things by their true name rather than twist and degrade names with euphemisms, superficial or meaningless talk; truth is labeled expediency, goodness becomes being nice, character is confused with personality and fear masks as respect.
It is pivotal to acknowledge that authentic freedom is not the power to do whatever we please. Freedom is the liberation to be what we were meant to be, God’s intention for us. We are too often propagandized with appeals to our pride and avarice, veiled as wisdom and specialized endorsements from experts. For example, we are persuaded that abortion is a matter of freedom of choice.
Currently, social virtues include increased sales, higher consumerism, more wins and over the top possessions. The virtuous man is he who freely practices mass consumption. This is also applicable to those politicians catering to the quirks and caprices of constituents who worship their own cravings and compulsions, rather than the natural law of truth and honor.
Unfortunately, God is often honored in words but insulted in practice because many people worship from ulterior motives while the desires of their hearts are far from God. It is rare to hear open repudiation of God as we hypocritically call upon His name in political conferences, business conventions and before meals. And then we ignore his Commandments, refute His justice and deny His truth because, not to, is politically unpopular, financially unprofitable or personally embarrassing.
Perhaps it is not that God has abandoned us but that we have abandoned God.
I pray daily for the restoration of truth, trust and sanity.