Clarity Amidst Flurries Of Contrasting Opinions

It’s the age old question: “What is truth?” Truth isn’t so easy to find during our lifetimes, or so it seems based on how many contrasting ideologies and opinions are out there. After all, if truth was so easy to know, wouldn’t everyone know it? Maybe, maybe not. Why truth is important to understand is much easier to explain. If your job is on the line because you were accused of something unsavory, except you’re innocent, then you really want the truth to be known. Truth would be a matter of career destruction and possibly even public shame. It would mean everything. It’s vice versa if someone did something cruel and denied it. Either way, you would want the truth to be known above all other things.

With that little introduction, let’s dive right in and explore how to find truth amidst so many conflicting ideologies in the world. For me, one of the best analogies for finding truth in life is looking at a diamond. If a diamond is truth, it has various sides. The goal then with the diamond is to see all different sides and how the light shines through it as one single diamond. Some diamonds have greater value than others, and there are many diamonds and colors of diamonds out there. To me, that’s how it is with truth. There are lots of sides, many of them even valid, but alone they paint an incomplete picture. The colors are like the emotions that go into it. Either way, the goal is to know all sides of the splendid diamond. That’s how it is with truth — rightly dividing everything to form a diamond.

The year 2020 is a perfect way to explore how to find truth. Right now, there are so many differing opinions on very important policies and beliefs. Let’s start with race relations. This isn’t a new topic, and it’s actually much easier to discuss than some of the other issues that have arisen in 2020, as surprising as that may sound to some. Now, I’m not going to tell you what to believe, but I’m instead going to show you different sides of undeniable truths, and hopefully by the end you can see what I’m talking about with the diamond analogy. 

Take the organization of Black Lives Matter, for example. The leaders of it are proudly Marxist in ideology, yet most of the people who have said “black lives matter” are not Marxist in ideology. What most people are expressing with that phrase is an agreement on the fact that black people in America have faced a serious uphill battle compared to everyone else due to facing hatred for their skin color, though racism has dropped dramatically in recent times. Nevertheless, there are other factors of education systems, ghettos, police relationships, etc that go into this discussion on race. So, as you can see, it’s no longer just a discussion on not being judged for skin color, but the discussion has turned into healing the results of past racism toward black people as well. That’s all I’ll say on this matter. Now, what it all shows is that there are many sides of this discussion on race in America, not simply racial discrimination, and different groups will have ideas on how to cure it, yet the vast, vast majority of people agree that racial discrimination has no place in America. 

Continuing onto another “side of the diamond” of those facts, other people take offense at being told that due to a racist history America has never been great. The reality is that America’s history was nothing like Nazi Germany with the gas chambers toward a race of people. It was more like Rome or Egypt with their slavery and oppressions. The Roman Empire and Egypt were both focused on taking over the world, and during those times and after those times, slavery was seen as a way of life to create an empire. Slavery was still all over the world with the most powerful empires during the time that America utilized slavery. Then, in America, after slavery became outlawed (a miracle in itself) some people (around half the nation) held onto superiority beliefs and hated the people who were once slaves, in this case black people. 

So, right there we have multiple truths/facts of history and the present — different sides of the diamond of truth. So, what do we make of that? The reality is that alone each side isn’t right. When combined together, though, there is truth that can help heal the nation. Think about that — heal the nation. That’s what’s at stake with truth. So, what is that truth? The truth is that the effects of racism need to be healed in the ghettos; relationships with police and black people need to be mended in a focused way; and the appreciation of America to end slavery and convince other nations to end it as well is also a great accomplishment. On top of that, America has historically been the nation that helps promote democracy and allow people to create nations that topple fascism and dictatorships so that civility and equality can be promoted. No nation is perfect, so they must all be given grace and also receive new truths — both things.

Imagine if each side on this race discussion could properly communicate these truths to each other and work together to bring healing to the American promise of “justice for all”. Yet, that’s not currently what’s happening. Instead, what we see happening is that helping black people is being called a threat to America (that’s pathetic), and then others are saying that Americans who don’t want to join in with the specific Black Lives Matter movement toward healing racial injustice are racist and a threat to democracy (also pathetic). The reality is that people in America are taught to pick a side and only push the agenda of that side. That’s not good. What happens when that happens? Truth is never allowed to rise to the surface. Instead, it’s only oppression and divisiveness, no matter which side does that. 

The job of our leaders in America is to make sure that people on either side of the aisle for the policies of life are cared for and heard, unless it’s pure evil, and the basic idea of either side in this situation is not purely evil. It’s usually the fringe people that are getting all of the press, which is unfortunate. It’s the outliers being painted as the masses, instead of the masses being painted as the majority. So, how do you find truth amidst all of these flurries of ideology? It’s simple; I’ll say it again. You simply understand each side of the diamond until you see the whole diamond. It doesn’t mean you need to learn about 126 different opinions on an idea, but we do have to get the big picture of the main ideas, not just the ones we want to hear or that our friends want to hear. We have to take heed how we hear. That’s how you keep yourself sane and not overwhelmed on this search, but also be open to new ideas/perspectives. There’s no need to be afraid of differing perspectives. In fact, it’s exciting. As a writer I get this need to understand all sides because that’s how you write characters from all walks of life, and in daily life it enhances our cultural experience.

Taking this approach to truth may not make you the most popular person, at least right now with all the “pick a side” mentalities still gaining the most prominence, but this is the future, if we want peace, anyway. It’s the future of the public education systems, politics, and relationships among people in this newly connected world with social media and news stations. It’s about finding common ground while we also hold our personal beliefs/convictions, such as our personal beliefs on who God is, who the best political candidate is, etc. This is the only way towards civility and allowance of freedom. Otherwise, what you’ll see is more chaos happen, more policing, and more control. All of this will happen in time if people refuse to understand each other and find common ground. It’s a manipulative and fearful person who doesn’t want to understand others or allow others to understand each other. All of this is the art of truth that brings peace and love, while also allowing diversity and freedom. Simple, right? Well, if you have a heart of peacemaking it is! “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God,” as the saying goes.