The Truth
What is Truth?
It can be hard to know.
Not because it doesn’t exist, but because it’s usually too distant, vast, and complicated to comprehend. Or…like an ocean to a fish or a forest to a tree…it’s too close, and all-encompassing. As Chesterton said, it’s easy to be blind to a thing, so long as it’s big enough.
What we think we see is often a consoling mirage, a portrayal we create to validate our assumptions. It’s tempting (and often reasonable) to base unequivocal conclusions on preconceived notions.
And why not? In some sense, that’s what preconceived notions are for: handy guides to keep us from wandering in the desert. But we tend to rend our garments whenever they’re refuted.
We all have biases that beg to be affirmed. Most are harmless, some are helpful, many are dangerous.
To keep from being singed, we sometimes hide our candle under a bushel, to curtail controversial opinions so that we keep receiving our pieces of silver. When suspected of holding dissident perspectives, it’s easiest to deny three times we ever deviated.
It’s convenient to follow the crowd and go with the flow. To preserve professional status or personal clout, we’d best join the chorus…and choose Barabbas over Christ.
That’s human nature. When given a choice, most of us opt not to carry a cross. I’m no different.
Their Own Reward
I’ve spent most of my life on the prescribed path. College…graduate school… corporate career…leafy suburbs. For most of that time, aside from intimate family and close friends, I kept my opinions private.
For two decades, my writing was mostly personal diaries, family stories, and travel journals. Only in the last few years did more controversial topics enter these essays, tenuously transported on the ignorance of an ass.
Regarding religion and politics…which
Article from LewRockwell
LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.
