Truth in crisis

Before we further sink into lower and uglier levels of absurdity in our current political telenovela, we need to review basic concepts of truth, proper witnessing and discretion now shamelessly violated by our political leaders.

There, sadly, is a festering crisis of truth that is at the bottom of all the mess we are having now. Thanks to it, our air has become polluted, people are becoming increasingly skeptical and cynical. Only the devil is happy with all this confusion, together, of course, with his human cohorts.

It's the crisis that considers truth simply as any piece of information that is useful to someone. Never mind if it has not much basis in reality, as long as it has lots of credibility, or at least can manage to pull some credibility.

Yes, dear, truth is now a matter of credibility rather than reality. It hardly has anything to do with God. If there is, it's by pure coincidence that it does. Truth is just whether something can be useful to someone or not. It's terribly selfish.

In other words, truth is now more subjective rather than objective, confined to the interest of particular persons or groups, and usually at odds with the requirements of the common good.

It tends to exploit certain advantages or privileges its holder can have, whether in the field of human law, political power, social position, wealth, intellectual and technical superiority, experience, etc.

In this understanding of truth, truth is deemed self-sufficient, without need for charity. It goes against the Gospel teaching that truth and charity should go together, since one without the other would nullify both.

Truth without charity is not truth, while charity without truth is not charity either. They have to come together as the substance always comes with the form, and the body with the soul. Otherwise, it would be an anomaly.

In this system, truth becomes an inert or dead thing, prone to being used by unscrupulous persons. It's not alive, vitally connected with God and with everybody else. It's just a thing, to be used as in prostituting. There is nothing of the sacred in it.

In this system, truthfulness or sincerity is a distorted virtue consisting of blabbering the information when it becomes useful. It hardly has no reference to God nor to his commandments. It can easily lend itself to malice and deceit.

It's much like what the devil said to Jesus, even quoting the Scripture to tempt Jesus. It's much like what the high priest Caiphas said when he correctly predicted it was better for one man-Jesus-to die than to lose the whole Jewish nation to the Romans. (Jn 11,49-52)

Truthfulness would be much like the candor of an innocent and naïve child, a drunkard who has lost his senses, or a person pushed to the corner and forced to squeal.

That's what happens with many of the witnesses being paraded in our political scene these days. They obviously say some truth, but are these truths offered for the common good, for the glory of God?

These witnesses often become irresponsible squealers because they have been implicated by some illegal or immoral activities. They are abusers of truth who cause more evil than good in society.

Proper witnessing can only be done with God in mind. This is when he is guided by what is known as the virtue of discretion. It's what gives him the sense of what is proper and what is not in handling pieces of truth and information.

Discretion makes one go beyond the limitations of his position to attend to the requirements of the common good. It links his particular view to the complete picture of things.

It is what converts any damning testimony one may make into something that is constructive to the whole society. It guides one what to say, and also when, how and to whom to say it. It checks reckless impulses.

This virtue is sadly missing these days. More, it's not simply ignored, it is ridiculed, as many people just go yakking and yakking ad infinitum, without due regard to the effects their words can make.

Well, as I've always said, let's go back to God to avoid the destructive ways we seem to be taking.

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