The time has come to stand up for science, and I begin with defense of truth. What is truth? We may look it up. There are three definitions, but the one that we are concerned with here is the following:
“that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality.”
Pretty simple, yes? Truth is not relative. There are not alternate truths or alternate facts.
I know that there is a tendency to believe that our belief in truth and the approbation against not telling it, aka lying, stems from our religions. And yes, we are told in, for instance, Proverbs 6:16-19 (King James Version)
“These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”
Somebody needs to stuff that into the President’s fortune cookie. And speaking of “an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,” we learn in John 37-38.
“Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.”
We all know how well that story ended. But I think that it is much simpler than that. We get our morality, our ethics, from our parents. My mother taught me not to lie and that is why I do not lie. This fundamental truth is at the core, the root, of human civilization. It defines moral society. And it is essential for democracy.
When I was growing up, in the age of the Cold War and the Soviet Union, we used to mock the fact that the official newspaper of the Russian Communist Party was “Pravda,” or “Truth.” It is the supreme irony that this President has taken us to the level of what we once loathed. It is like a parody of George Costanza of Seinfeld’s fourteen justifications for lying:
“1. It’s not a lie if you believe it.
2. It’s not a lie if it doesn’t help you.
3. It’s not a lie if it hurts you.
4. It’s not a lie if it helps someone else.
5. It’s not a lie if it doesn’t hurt someone else.
6. It’s not a lie if everyone expects you to lie.
7. It’s not a lie if the other person knows the truth.
8. It’s not a lie if nobody can prove it.
9. It’s not a lie if you don’t get caught.
10. It’s not a lie if you don’t need to tell another lie to cover it up.
11. It’s not a lie if you were crossing your fingers.
12. It’s not a lie if you proceed to make it true.
13. It’s not a lie if nobody heard you say it.
14. It’s not a lie if nobody cares.”
And number fourteen is the critical point, friends. If we care about our country, then it is time for us to stand up in defense of the truth. Donald Trump, Kelly Anne Conway, Sean Spicer have taken us into a world of Orwellian Double Speak – language that deliberately obscures, disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words. We know the truth. Our mothers taught us the truth. So now, we are tested with the question, do we care?