Truth is one of the first casualties of a revolution. When a revolutionary wants something he knows is a lie, he very quickly finds a way to bury the truth. Study history and you'll find the lies behind every revolution. I can't count how many times I heard those going into abortion centers say, "You have your truth; I have mine." No truth exists in the revolution except what pleases the revolutionary.
The cynical Pilate asked, "What is truth?" with the implication that there is no such thing. The answer, of course, is that truth is what corresponds to reality. The truthful person conforms his intellect to reality as Aristotle said, affirmed and expanded by St. Thomas Aquinas. Truth doesn't just reside in the intellect but in material things. A rock is a rock and not a feather. So truth is firmly grounded in physical reality, not just in the mind. Aquinas makes a distinction between human truth and divine truth. Obviously the ultimate truth is God.
A lover of truth speaks clearly. His yes means yes and his no means no. There is no guile in him as Jesus said of Nathaniel, "Behold an Israelite indeed, there is no guile in him." [John 1:47] He's also usually simple and uncomplicated. The lie buries itself in details and red herrings. The truth speaks with a clear voice.
Is there such a thing as relative truth? Yes. I like pizza, but someone else may hate it. That says nothing about the pizza, but only the relative taste of the two diners. There are lots of personal truths expressed by the individual that are not absolute for everyone. But when it comes to intrinsic moral principles, the truth is a rock. Abortion kills infants in the womb. That is a biological reality. Those who worked in the abortion revolution to legalize it had to do all they could to disguise that truth with euphemisms, lies, and distractions. Talking about bloody coat hangers did nothing to change the reality that abortion murders the innocent violating the fifth commandment. "Don't look at the 'fetus' think of the mom!" the revolutionaries demanded. And it's true that killing is not always wrong. The commandment forbids murder not self defense or capital punishment justly imposed to defend society.
Another example that illustrates the lack of truth in today's culture is this. There are only two sexes, male and female, a rock-hard biological truth. And now what do we find in the gender revolution? People who can't even answer the question, "What is a woman?" It's "above the pay grade" of a Supreme Court justice.
The answer, however, is simple and stated in a few words. A woman is a female member of the human species. We can add to that definition the biological fact that every cell in her body carries a specific female DNA identifying her by XX chromosomes. She cannot turn herself into a man no matter how much she wishes it. She can only mutilate her body to mimic male characteristics. The same is true for men. They can grow long hair and fingernails, wear makeup, nail polish, and high heels, but they will always carry the XY chromosomes that identify them as male. And really, even handsome men (like Bruce Jenner) almost always make ugly pseudo women or ridiculous looking Barbie dolls like Dylan Mulvaney.
I recently met a person calling herself a man. She obviously was not a man even though she had hair on her chin. She no doubt is taking male hormones. I suspect she was once a pretty young girl. No one could call her a handsome man. I also had a brief exchange with a man pretending to be a woman on Substack. His photo was on his account and he makes a very ugly woman. He was posting in the support group for parents with trans children asking for advice about how to deal with his dad who doesn't accept his fictional persona. But it became clear after dozens of comments that what he was really after was attention. Several moms finally confronted him and suggested he go elsewhere, that the account was for parents of trans children. I've been praying for him ever since. He's a man pretending to be a woman in a "marriage" to a lesbian. Really, you cannot make these things up. He's a male even though he plays dress up and his "wife" is a female pretending to be in a relationship with another woman. Will the church bless these kinds of unions since their "marriage" would be between one man and one woman? What would James Martin do?
Our revolutionary culture has become a massive culture of the lie. Those who love truth experience intolerance and persecution. The best description of the modern world in psychiatric jargon is that it's a culture of cognitive dissonance where many people try to believe two mutually exclusive things at the same time. They try to force the truth and the lie to connect. But that's like trying to unite two magnets with the same charge. They repel each other. And ultimately the lie becomes a poison that destroys happiness and peace for the one who embraces it.
It seems to me these days that the whole range of alphabet people is chiefly characterized by a desire for attention. I've never been to a pride parade, but I've seen the pictures. They remind me of an X-rated Halloween party whose participants strive to be the most outlandish and depraved of all. It's probably useless to engage with these folks except spiritually through their guardian angels. Many of them have likely killed their consciences and it will take a miracle of grace to wake them up.
And that, friends, is the truth. I recently read a little story (If I could remember where, I'd give the writer credit.). I'm butchering it, but here's the gist. It was about a man immersed in serious sins who challenged a priest who preached about the weight of sin. The sinner laughed and said he didn't feel any weight at all. The priest asked him a question. "If I put a 25 pound bag of flour on the chest of a corpse will he feel it?" The reply? "Of course not; he's dead." Then the priest said, "Neither will a man whose conscience is dead feel the weight of his sins." It will take a miracle of grace to bring some sinners back to life, but God is a God of miracles.
One of the best things every Catholic can do is to pursue truth and vigilantly defend it. As Scripture says the sword of truth is the word of God. It cuts through the lie like butter. Let us defend it always and pray to the Holy Spirit for the wisdom to know it and the courage to profess and defend it.
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