Search for Truth (part four)

Green Truths
Another important measure used to discover what is true or not, is contemporary wisdom. I was living in California where many use strong, politically correct speech, politically correct motivation, as well as environmentally careful words such as green, sustainable living, (and of course, vegetable oil power for cars.)

As compassionate caretakers of a troubled world, we certainly are influenced by both current research and contemporary wisdom that reflects new ideas about new problems. However, looking back on contemporary wisdom attitudes of five, ten or twenty years ago, we might feel surprised or even castigate ourselves for how we used to think. Now it is fashionable to castigate second or third world countries for doing the same things that first worlders themselves did earlier, because they do not have money or technology to do things as green as in California.

I am not saying that green is bad and wrong. The point here is about the criteria used for discovering what is true, which can become quite compelling when it becomes widely accepted contemporary wisdom that is used to decide by consensus what is true and valid. So, as we move in a stream of what others believe, we also follow their correct or incorrect logic, joining a larger community that holds similar values or “truths.”

Media Truths
Many people establish truth by what they read in newspapers and magazines and watch on the television set. For the intelligent person, it is easy to see hidden agendas and commercial manipulation of media. However, the contemporary wisdom of political truths use similar methods to cause us to decide what are correct and straightforward realities. Manipulating our emotions, especially fear, colors our ablity to establish what is true and real from what is false and unreal in politics.

Political Truths
Most countries are divided and colored by the self-serving agendas of competitive political parties. I have even heard about people who support the ideals of one political party feeling uncomfortable around people who support another political party, even in social settings. They fear that they might become reversed or influenced to give up what they have already accepted as good, true and valid in their own lives. Someone might question their reasons or values, so they try to avoid group settings where that might happen. It also becomes important to establish truth by accepting other unrelated philosophies because of a strong political affiliation. The unthinkable horrors of wartime abuse of the Jews, gypsies and others were commonly held political views at that time because of loyalty to acceptable political positions.

It could also be that someone with a dogmatic political view feels secure in his or her own beliefs, which includes common values with political views, and they do not want to change. I cannot judge individual motivation, but a truth method based upon contemporary political views changes like the direction of the wind. In addition, we might think our political views only color our political choices in the voting booth, but it does not. It enters into social life, how we make money, who we choose as friends, and many other areas of life.

Propaganda Truth
If we really believed everything in the infusion of agenda based propaganda regarding political truths and realities, we would need to be ready to believe something different at a moments notice from those in charge of our beliefs. This is not quite as difficult here as it is, for example, in China, or in Tibet. People are told what they are expected to think and you must jump when they say jump. Even in the privacy of their own minds, these oppressed people need to hold a rigid pattern so that they do not get into trouble by thinking the wrong thing. In Tibet, if you think the wrong thing, you might accidentally say the wrong thing, and then you might endanger not only yourself, but also your family. It becomes a matter of life and death to be able to think the right things regarding political truths and realities. To be continued…