The Truth is Precious Yet also Challenging

[Akita Suggagaki]

I was browsing through the Catechism and came upon "Truth".

2464 The eighth commandment forbids misrepresenting the truth in our relations with others. This moral prescription flows from the vocation of the holy people to bear witness to their God who is the truth and wills the truth. Offenses against the truth express by word or deed a refusal to commit oneself to moral uprightness: they are fundamental infidelities to God and, in this sense, they undermine the foundations of the covenant.

Seeking out the truth is sometimes a great deal of work when there is so much misinformation and even lies.


2482 "A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving." The Lord denounces lying as the work of the devil: "You are of your father the devil, . . . there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

2483 Lying is the most direct offense against the truth. To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead into error someone who has the right to know the truth. By injuring man's relation to truth and to his neighbor, a lie offends against the fundamental relation of man and of his word to the Lord.

2484 The gravity of a lie is measured against the nature of the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by its victims. If a lie in itself only constitutes a venial sin, it becomes mortal when it does grave injury to the virtues of justice and charity.

2485 By its very nature, lying is to be condemned. It is a profanation of speech, whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others. the deliberate intention of leading a neighbor into error by saying things contrary to the truth constitutes a failure in justice and charity. the culpability is greater when the intention of deceiving entails the risk of deadly consequences for those who are led astray.

2486 Since it violates the virtue of truthfulness, a lie does real violence to another. It affects his ability to know, which is a condition of every judgment and decision. It contains the seed of discord and all consequent evils. Lying is destructive of society; it undermines trust among men and tears apart the fabric of social relationships.

The problem today seems to be that people believe what they want to believe and find some "source" to justify that belief. We are in a time of Truth Crisis. Though perhaps we always have been. Propaganda has been around since the serpent spoke to Eve. “O send out Thy Truth and Thy Light! Let them lead me.” - Psalm 43 Truth and light, darkness and lies, our constant challenge to untangle them.

2496 The means of social communication (especially the mass media) can give rise to a certain passivity among users, making them less than vigilant consumers of what is said or shown. Users should practice moderation and discipline in their approach to the mass media. They will want to form enlightened and correct consciences the more easily to resist unwholesome influences.

So we must not become passive. We must remain vigilant. Even when the truth hurts, when it does not fit our worldview, when it challenges everything we thought we knew. I believe our , yes mine also, commitment to truth is largely phony. We have to be ready, willing and able to admit, "I was wrong." What does not transmit light creates its own darkness. - Marcus Aurelius

 

[fide]

OP: "The problem today seems to be that people believe what they want to believe and find some "source" to justify that belief. We are in a time of Truth Crisis. Though perhaps we always have been. Propaganda has been around since the serpent spoke to Eve. “O send out Thy Truth and Thy Light! Let them lead me.” - Psalm 43 Truth and light, darkness and lies, our constant challenge to untangle them."

If we have always been in a truth crisis (since the "father of lies" deceived Eve) it is also true that the Truth Crisis has been advancing, deepening, growing and increasingly lethal along the trail to today. Something radical and new came into the world since the leash on the father of lies was loosened considerably when his "house arrest" got a temporary stay a few decades ago (it seems, at least). The pope offering Mass in the Vatican smelled something terrible and terrifying: he smelled "the smoke of satan" in the holy place. The father of lies was permitted much more leeway in his work of lies, deceit and sabotage - to steal, kill and destroy in the world and in humanity and in the Church.

In 1972, on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Paul VI spoke of the “smoke of Satan” entering the “temple of God.”
“We believe in something preternatural that has come into the world for the very purpose of disturbing and stifling the fruits of the Second Vatican Council, and to prevent the Church from bursting into a hymn of joy at having regained full awareness of herself,” Paul VI said, speaking of the devil's attacks upon the Church in late 1960s and 1970s.

And we can see with our own eyes in these deeply troubling times, people actually believing lies that are so self-evidently absurd that a small child (if not yet brainwashed) could know the falsity of them: a man cannot be made into a woman nor a woman into a man. Sharing public bathrooms and showers is crazy. Legislating ideology against the Natural Moral Law is authentically insane.

Maybe when truth is as violated, abused, defamed and insulted as commonly as it is these days, the time is now prime for real evangelization - if we can just find witnesses to do it.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

If we have always been in a truth crisis (since the "father of lies" deceived Eve) it is also true that the Truth Crisis has been advancing, deepening, growing and increasingly lethal along the trail to today. Something radical and new came into the world since the leash on the father of lies was loosened considerably when his "house arrest" got a temporary stay a few decades ago (it seems, at least). The pope offering Mass in the Vatican smelled something terrible and terrifying: he smelled "the smoke of satan" in the holy place. The father of lies was permitted much more leeway in his work of lies, deceit and sabotage - to steal, kill and destroy in the world and in humanity and in the Church.

And we can see with our own eyes in these deeply troubling times, people actually believing lies that are so self-evidently absurd that a small child (if not yet brainwashed) could know the falsity of them: a man cannot be made into a woman nor a woman into a man. Sharing public bathrooms and showers is crazy. Legislating ideology against the Natural Moral Law is authentically insane.

Maybe when truth is as violated, abused, defamed and insulted as commonly as it is these days, the time is now prime for real evangelization - if we can just find witnesses to do it.

I may be wrong but I think people hunger for a stable sense of objective truth. But they surrender to the lowest of human nature when such a standard conflicts with their own ego wants. That "smoke of Satan" comes from the ascendance of the ego over all other virtues. Ego trumps all doctrine, tradition even reasoning. But then that is the culture since "the Death of God". We define our own meaning, purpose and truth. At least that is the illusion. We are spoiled children.

 

[mourningdove~]

And we can see with our own eyes in these deeply troubling times, people actually believing lies that are so self-evidently absurd that a small child (if not yet brainwashed) could know the falsity of them: a man cannot be made into a woman nor a woman into a man. Sharing public bathrooms and showers is crazy. Legislating ideology against the Natural Moral Law is authentically insane.

Your post prompted me to ask, "So what do we do to prevent ourselves from being 'brainwashed'?" I ask myself this periodically, as I see the lies spreading ... and apparently being accepted ... within our society. There are still some countries that haven't bought into the lies. Africa appears to be one. I continue to hear there is (Catholic) revival happening there. And we see other countries where the lies aren't being permitted. (Makes me want to move there!)

I can still sort true from false, but I can feel the 'pull' of 'the world' to accept all the craziness. I'm able to isolate ... pick and choose ... what media I listen to, but what about the young who are getting a steady diet of lies thrown at them? How are they to resist?

My first thought is to stay close to the Word of God. The Bible. And old teachings of the Church. But it does seem the 'virus' is slowly creeping into the RC now, too How does one avoid eventually being infected with it, if it's even spreading into the churches?

Your thoughts?

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Your post prompted me to ask, "So what do we do to prevent ourselves from being 'brainwashed'?" I ask myself this periodically, as I see the lies spreading ... and apparently being accepted ... within our society. There are still some countries that haven't bought into the lies. Africa appears to be one. I continue to hear there is (Catholic) revival happening there. And we see other countries where the lies aren't being permitted. (Makes me want to move there!)

I can still sort true from false, but I can feel the 'pull' of 'the world' to accept all the craziness. I'm able to isolate ... pick and choose ... what media I listen to, but what about the young who are getting a steady diet of lies thrown at them? How are they to resist?

My first thought is to stay close to the Word of God. The Bible. And old teachings of the Church. But it does seem the 'virus' is slowly creeping into the RC now, too How does one avoid eventually being infected with it, if it's even spreading into the churches?

Your thoughts?

Well, if we do not trust the Church and its teachings we can hardly say we are trusting God. So when it comes to the left and right, the conservative and liberal, I stick to written documents of Church teaching. Anything beyond that is interpretation. The Catechism, The Compendium of the Social Teaching, The General Instruction to the Roma Missal, Canon Law. If one thinks there is error or smoke of Satan in them, might as well leave the Church.

 

[mourningdove~]

Well, if we do not trust the Church and its teachings we can hardly say we are trusting God. So when it comes to the left and right, the conservative and liberal, I stick to written documents of Church teaching. Anything beyond that is interpretation. The Catechism, The Compendium of the Social Teaching, The General Instruction to the Roma Missal, Canon Law. If one thinks there is error or smoke of Satan in them, might as well leave the Church.

I was looking for more 'practical' ideas, when I asked my question. And I asked @fide because I know he isn't 'woke', and doesn't appear to be tempted to become so. But the 'woke' influence is now all around us. It is like the church of Jesus Christ in America is living in Babylon.

You suggestion: to trust the Church, do what she says, or leave ... is useful. Blunt, but useful.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

You suggestion: to trust the Church, do what she says, or leave ... is useful. Blunt, but useful.

I tell that to myself quite often. Maybe we all should.

 

[fide]

Your post prompted me to ask, "So what do we do to prevent ourselves from being 'brainwashed'?" I ask myself this periodically, as I see the lies spreading ... and apparently being accepted ... within our society. There are still some countries that haven't bought into the lies. Africa appears to be one. I continue to hear there is (Catholic) revival happening there. And we see other countries where the lies aren't being permitted. (Makes me want to move there!)

I can still sort true from false, but I can feel the 'pull' of 'the world' to accept all the craziness. I'm able to isolate ... pick and choose ... what media I listen to, but what about the young who are getting a steady diet of lies thrown at them? How are they to resist?

My first thought is to stay close to the Word of God. The Bible. And old teachings of the Church. But it does seem the 'virus' is slowly creeping into the RC now, too How does one avoid eventually being infected with it, if it's even spreading into the churches?

Your thoughts?

It is painful to see "the enemy within" even within the Church. But the Old Testament reveals the same sad story, and Jesus uncovers it explicitly in the People of God in His time. He wept over Jerusalem, as saints of today are broken to tears seeing and hearing the world and its spirit shouting and sneering at them even in the holy places and times of the Faith. Jesus saw them in the "scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites" in Mt 23:

Mat 23:5 They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,
Mat 23:6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues,
Mat 23:7 and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men.
Mat 23:8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren.
Mat 23:9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.
Mat 23:10 Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ.
Mat 23:11 He who is greatest among you shall be your servant;
Mat 23:12 whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

These were the clericalists of HIs day who are, simply put, hired men where shepherds should be, wolves in sheep's clothing. In Luke it is written:

Luk 19:41 And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it,
Luk 19:42 saying, "Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes.
Luk 19:43 For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side,
Luk 19:44 and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation."
Luk 19:45 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold,
Luk 19:46 saying to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer'; but you have made it a den of robbers."

Your "first thought" is where we must start, and starting, remain until the Counselor, the Paraclete - the "Morning Star" rises in our hearts with His Holy Gifts to enable the perfection we must seek and can begin to find "hidden" so to speak in too-familiar places. As St. Peter learned and then taught and now teaches:

2Pet 1:19 And we have the prophetic word made more sure. You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

Discernment is crucial, necessary in a time of many teachers who need to be learners, credentialed but never taught, "all hat and boots but no cowboy" as a secular proverb puts it. We must become very, very close to the Lord who IS Truth. And the Blessed Mother will help, too.

 

[fide]

I may be wrong but I think people hunger for a stable sense of objective truth. But they surrender to the lowest of human nature when such a standard conflicts with their own ego wants. That "smoke of Satan" comes from the ascendance of the ego over all other virtues. Ego trumps all doctrine, tradition even reasoning. But then that is the culture since "the Death of God". We define our own meaning, purpose and truth. At least that is the illusion. We are spoiled children.

Well, to be blunt - and I hope not unkindly - I think you are wrong, yes. We will never know with certainty that "objective truth" even exists, until the One who IS "objective Truth affirms it within us. Thus:

Eph 2:8 For by [supernatural] grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the [supernatural] gift of God—
Eph 2:9 not because of [natural, human] works, lest any man should boast.

True, ego is seduced easily by our own precious works, understndings, explanations, etc. But all the psychologizing in the world will never bring the peace we hunger for and were created for. We need open interior eyes to see what cannot be seen, the glorious truth, and the real evil, our real enemy:

Eph 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Eph 6:13 Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
Eph 6:15 and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16 besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one.
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Eph 6:18 Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
Eph 6:19 and also for me, that utterance may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
Eph 6:20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

 

[fide]

I was looking for more 'practical' ideas, when I asked my question. And I asked @fide because I know he isn't 'woke', and doesn't appear to be tempted to become so. But the 'woke' influence is now all around us. It is like the church of Jesus Christ in America is living in Babylon.

You suggestion: to trust the Church, do what she says, or leave ... is useful. Blunt, but useful.

No, we must not ever leave the Church of Jesus the Lord! Not ever. Jesus welcomed into the innermost circle the Apostles, Judas the traitor. Evil was in the Church at the very beginning, by God's permission and indeed plan. All of this is Divine mystery - God's way of saving His human creation fallen into sin. We must see Him in His Church, as He indeed IS, or we are in a precarious place that is tempting to leave - except there is nowhere to go. We cannot find the place of our destiny and call, except by way of THE Way: the way and the Truth and the Life, Jesus Christ. With, of course, sufferings on the Cross. We will have trouble around us as long as we are on this earth, but He spoke of our untouchable and safe interior, the heart: "Let not your heart be troubled"

John 14:1 "Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Truth also needs untangling from error sometimes.
Women's rights, for example.
Right to vote, right to equal pay for equal work,

Women did not have the power to make contracts, own property or vote. A woman was seen merely as a servant to her husband. By the 1830s and 1840s, however, that began to change when many bold, outspoken women championed social reforms of prisons, war, alcohol and slavery.

https://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/app/uploads/2021/01/EDU_SchoolTours_Cyclo_TeacherGuide_Components_Womens-Roles-and-Rights-in-the-1800s-.pdf

But right to choose abortion somehow mixed in there with healthcare rights.

Kind of a bait and switch.

 

[zippy2006]

The Catechism, The Compendium of the Social Teaching, The General Instruction to the Roma Missal, Canon Law. If one thinks there is error or smoke of Satan in them, might as well leave the Church.

Incidentally, you are quoting an outdated version of the Catechism. See: Second Edition Revision of the Catechism

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Incidentally, you are quoting an outdated version of the Catechism. See: Second Edition Revision of the Catechism

Did I quote it somewhere? If I did it was from the Vatican. But yes, there is a new edition. $32 at my parish store.

 

[mourningdove~]

We will have trouble around us as long as we are on this earth, but He spoke of our untouchable and safe interior, the heart: "Let not your heart be troubled"

That's a good word.
(Thank you!)

 

[mourningdove~]

Well, if we do not trust the Church and its teachings we can hardly say we are trusting God. So when it comes to the left and right, the conservative and liberal, I stick to written documents of Church teaching. Anything beyond that is interpretation. The Catechism, The Compendium of the Social Teaching, The General Instruction to the Roma Missal, Canon Law.

I notice when you addressed my post that you didn't mention the Bible, whereas I specifically did.
Does that mean you don't recognize the Bible also, as a source of truth?

 

[fide]

I was browsing through the Catechism and came upon "Truth".

2464 The eighth commandment forbids misrepresenting the truth in our relations with others. This moral prescription flows from the vocation of the holy people to bear witness to their God who is the truth and wills the truth. Offenses against the truth express by word or deed a refusal to commit oneself to moral uprightness: they are fundamental infidelities to God and, in this sense, they undermine the foundations of the covenant.​

Seeking out the truth is sometimes a great deal of work when there is so much misinformation and even lies.

.......

2496 The means of social communication (especially the mass media) can give rise to a certain passivity among users, making them less than vigilant consumers of what is said or shown. Users should practice moderation and discipline in their approach to the mass media. They will want to form enlightened and correct consciences the more easily to resist unwholesome influences.​

So we must not become passive. We must remain vigilant. Even when the truth hurts, when it does not fit our worldview, when it challenges everything we thought we knew. I believe our , yes mine also, commitment to truth is largely phony. We have to be ready, willing and able to admit, "I was wrong." What does not transmit light creates its own darkness. - Marcus Aurelius

Akita, your words in red above trouble me, for your sake. In a culture - a world! - permeated with contradictions, even deliberate lies and manipulative deceptions, you are right to be suspicious of (unconsciously perhaps) passively adsorbing falsity mixed in with commonalities, "truisms", popular slogans and societal "norms" that may well be abnormal and poisonous to God's creation and intention in your very soul. Yes, there is much "fake news" around - salesmen selling their merchandise with phony ways and means, words that get assembled and bent and served to lead you to accept them (the liars and their lies). A bit of arsenic mixed into the nice cup of tea set before you.

Our commitment to truth must be guarded and kept strong, so as to guard and protect what is holy: Truth. The evil one wants to mix and thus dilute and corrupt what is holy, good and true. He want to mix truth and falsity, goodness and evil, fact and fiction, that which is sacred and of God with that which is secular and godless. These are dangerous times - I believe, uniquely dangerous because these are "the last days" ("last" with some unknown number of days left, we don't know how many).

To say one's "commitment to truth is largely phony" may reflect (I hope) only a humble recognition of a common weakness and susceptibility toward "going with the crowd" - that must be overcome when "the crowd" is going toward madness as it can well be today.

As an example, I have been in Catholic parishes when the priest-celebrant is, to say it I hope charitably, immature. Not in years immature, but in spiritual depth and wisdom immature, and showing much worldliness in his homilies and other impromptu comments in announcements at the beginning and/or the closing of the Liturgy. Such is a sprinkling of "arsenic" in the holy chalice of the Mass. Embracing and mixing worldliness into the Holy Sacrifice and Communion of the Mass is a contradiction within the Word spoken to the congregation. The fruit of such contradiction is bitter, lukewarm, crying out in the conscience for purity. We must grow toward Truth, and never seek rest where there is no rest.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

I notice when you addressed my post that you didn't mention the Bible, whereas I specifically did.
Does that mean you don't recognize the Bible also, as a source of truth?

The Bible must be interpreted and that is where we find divisions.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

To say one's "commitment to truth is largely phony" may reflect (I hope) only a humble recognition of a common weakness and susceptibility toward "going with the crowd" - that must be overcome when "the crowd" is going toward madness as it can well be today.

And not just going with the crowd but also our own individual preference or bias.
That is why the intensive power of the words of Jesus shook the world and resonate even to this day.

 

[mourningdove~]

The Bible must be interpreted and that is where we find divisions.

Do you not believe we can read the Bible for ourselves and know what it means?

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Do you not believe we can read the Bible for ourselves and know what it means?

Some of it. In fact mush of it is inspirational.
Do you not believe that some of it is open to interpretation?