Why Does Everyone Hate Truth?
How to Survive a Post-Truth Society
You utter the word โtruthโ today and get sneers and snickers in return.
Eyes roll. Backs turn.
Itโs so common online, most donโt think twice. They scroll past, file away, and move on to the next item in the slot machine. Scratch the itch for entertainment.
Just yesterday, I was talking with a friend about how atheists hate truth, and one popped into the comments with, โWhat truth?โ
In undergrad, I used to hear that question all the time because postmodernists canโt allow absolutes. Otherwise, their worldview would come crashing down like the worldโs biggest Jenga tower.
My professors would drone on and on about how truth is relative to whatever culture youโre living in.
No one knows the truth
Thereโs only your truth
You have no right to challenge other truths
Theyโre right in some capacity. No one can be certain about anything because each of us is an individual with a subjective perspective.
But notice how my professorsโ remarks were stated as if they are absolutes.
Because they are.
They made absolute truth claims about reality while expecting us students to accept there is no absolute truth.
Unfortunately, that kind of irrational drivel is no longer confined to the golden halls of academia. Postmodernists spent years shoveling their theories into the ears of unsuspecting captive audiences who were unequipped to counter their claims.
Now, society is awash with โsocial justice warriorsโ (the new postmodernists), like the atheist I mentioned earlier. Who hate actual truth and want to burn the cosmos to the ground.
What are we to do?
Pilate Canโt Handle the Truth
Weโd be remiss to think the postmodernists were the first to question truth. The Bible contains a famous example from the Roman Empire: Pilate and Jesus.
In Johnโs account of the crucifixion, weโre given an inside look at what happened inside Pilateโs fortress after the chief priests stirred up the crowds and brought Jesus to face trial with the Romans. This is what weโre told:
โPilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus, and asked him, โAre you the king of the Jews?โ
โIs that your own idea,โ Jesus asked, โor did others talk to you about me?โ
โAm I a Jew?โ Pilate replied. โYour own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?โ
Jesus said, โMy kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.โ
โYou are a king, then!โ said Pilate.
Jesus answered, โYou say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.โ
โWhat is truth?โ retorted Pilate.โ (John 18:33-38a)
Whenever I read this scene, I picture Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson at the end of A Few Good Men. โI want the truth!โ โYou canโt handle the truth!โ
One of the most iconic exchanges in cinema history. And Pilateโs talk with Christ is equally iconic because Pilate canโt handle the truth.
Jesus makes clear he is the arbiter of truth. THE truth. And Pilate offers โWhat is truth?โ in response. Not as a challenge, but as a dismissal.
We know this because right after, Pilate leaves Jesus and returns to the crowd of false witnesses. Comfortable with the liars he knows rather than the truth he doesnโt.
Postmodernists (also known as relativists) do exactly the same. They use โWhat truth?โ to avoid truth. Because what they really want for their questions is comfortable answers.
But absolute truth canโt be avoided. Something has to be rightโฆ
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