What is theTruth?
What is the Truth? Sometimes it is hard to say. We each have own point-of-view, and we each fear a loss of ego if we are found to be wrong. So sometimes we are just reluctant to believe the truth. Unfortunately, sometimes we practice deceit. We lie. In the name of pride, greed, or a “holy cause”, we lie.
Would you like an example of when it is hard to know the Truth? Smash Mouth Politics did a bit of research. That resulted in this post, Joseph Roger O’Dell, III. Before you read the rest of this post, I suggest you read Joseph Roger O’Dell, III. That post recites the FACTS (taken directly from the Va Supreme Court decision turning down O’Dell’s appeal) that lead to Joseph Roger O’Dell, III execution. Here is an online source (Federal as opposed to state, but the same FACTS).
So how is this an example of the difficulty of determining the Truth?
So how is this an example of the difficulty of determining the Truth? In addition to the court record, Smash Mouth Politics linked to a couple of anti-death penalty websites. These websites spin a different tale than that provided by the court record (See here and here.). Why the differing versions? One reason might be money.
- Anti-death penalty organizations have to raise money. For them to successfully raise money, their potential supporters have to see the need to open their wallets and contribute.
- For the sake of profitable ratings, the corporate news media must have something keep people watching, listening, and reading. Dog bites man does not excite much interest. Whereas, man bites dog excites great curiosity.
Unfortunately, few people know how to double-check accuracy of anti-death penalty stories. So fraudulent stories can easily thrive.
So what is the moral of the Smash Mouth post?
So what is the moral of the Smash Mouth post? Supposedly, we live in the Information Age. We derive this title by focusing upon our tools. Unfortunately, this focus causes us to think as materialists. Real progress depends upon changing our character, not our tools.
Consider what happens in eras where liars thrive and abound? Men cannot focus on their work. Instead, they must constantly verify each other’s words and deeds. Thus, progress grinds to a halt.
So what should we call this age?
So what should we call this age? I wished we would and could call it the Christian Age, a period that began with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Since the death and resurrection of Christ, men have shown a greater tendency to see other men as their brothers. As Christian brothers and sisters, we can develop and support a bond of trust.
Why is that trust important? Why is the character of man more important than his tools? Look again at the great volumes of information we process. Consider the power of that information. What is the good of it if we cannot trust it? Does information have any utility and value if it is not accurate. Is a computer is of any use if we put garbage into it? Is it not true that when we put garbage into a computer, we can only get garbage out?
Look again at information technology; it has a well-defined limits. Honorable people must be involved. The collection and dissemination of accurate information depends upon the religious beliefs of the people involved. Without honorable people, we cannot trust the information on our computers. Without trust between men, we cannot create an Information Age. We can only create the darkness of a Dark Age.
One last thought.
It is easy enough to google Joseph Roger O’Dell, III execute. When we read some of the hits, we are left with the impression of a reasonable doubt and a man wrongly executed. Yet a jury of our fellow citizens convicted O’Dell and decided he should be executed.
O’Dell was indicted for capital murder, abduction, rape, and sodomy. On his own motion, and after a court-appointed psychiatrist determined him competent, O’Dell quite ably defended himself pro se, with court-appointed attorney Paul Ray serving as standby counsel. O’Dell was tried, and, on September 10, 1986, the jury convicted him on all counts. The next day, the jury fixed his sentence for murder at death. The jury’s recommendation of death was based on its finding that both of Virginia’s statutory aggravating factors — future dangerousness and vileness — had been proven. (from here)
Were they wrong? Before we assume so, perhaps we ought to consider their side of the story.
“Without trust between men, we cannot create an Information Age. We can only create the darkness of a Dark Age.”
You apparently don’t even know what the Dark Ages were. How old are you? 12? The DARK AGES were the RESULT of Rome being destroyed by its ACCEPTANCE of CHRISTIANITY through CONSTANTINE. Rome was destroyed because it became corrupt with religion and all of the people Rome had previously conquered and accepted into its walls when it was non-christian saw that the government was corrupt and weak and so everything fell apart. There was no trust anymore after Christianity became the status quo. In its weakened state, the barbarian goths were able to attack Rome and deal the final deathblow.
Then, the DARK AGES came upon the world. Rome fell, but christianity was still spreading throughout the world, destroying everything it touched. It was only until the RENAISSANCE, a SECULAR HUMANITARIAN movement, that things began to get better in our world. The REBIRTH (RENAISSANCE) was a reawakening of thought that existed PRIOR TO the acceptance of CHRISTIANITY AND THE DARK AGES.
Thank you for reading my post and for offering a comment.
I regret you have such a dismal view of religion. What I find curious is that you have nothing to say about the religion of Romans. They did believe in gods. In fact, after a fashion, the Romans thought of Jews and Christians as atheists. That is because Jews and Christians believe in only one God.
One of the things the Romans did is deify their emperor (Diocletian being a good example). I expect that had as much to do with the fall of the Roman Empire as anything else. When Romans lived by principled beliefs, Rome grew in power and strength. When Romans honored the strength and power of a man, the empire began its decline.
How did the Renaissance start? Since secular humanism did not exist then, I am quite confident that secular humanism had nothing to do with it. On the other hand, the invention of printing press and the publication of the Bible did have something to do with it.
I suspect your confusion partly arises from the misappropriation of a term. We humans are political creatures, and liars especially like to make their sales pitches sound good by misusing our language. As it happens the first humanists were Christian Humanists. Instead of being atheists, they helped to initiate a very religious period we now refer to as the Protestant Reformation.
During the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church had become corrupt and despotic. Christian Humanists sought reform. When the church hierarchy resisted, the pressure for reform began to build. Thus, much like an earthquake, the Protestant Reformation resulted in schisms. Nonetheless, church corruption and depotism slowly diminished.
In recent years secularists have appropriated the term humanism and redefined it. This sort of thing is much like what happened with the term “gay” and for similar reasons. More people tend to be suspicious of “homosexuals” than “gays.” Some people let the connotation of terms influence their thinking way too much.
Funny how these things work. First we get a comment from a self proclaimed “ego fixer” claiming Christianity caused the Dark Ages. Then we get a link to a porn site by another fool who names himself after a Roman Emperor notorious for persecuting Christians. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletian
Old Fashion Liberal – I marked the comment from the “emperor” who does not seem to understand the value of clothes as spam.