Black and white view of the World
The truth is in the middle of all the lies, but living on the fence is worse than living a lie
As the saying goes the Truth is always in the middle, which has been incorporated in many laws of justice, where you get half the punishment intended for the particular violation (traffic for example). So why is it that sitting on the fence or walking the middle line in life is the worst possible thing to do?
I noticed many people struggle with differentiating between the two: either-or situations and seeking the narrow path in the middle, the Truth. The Truth is in the middle of all wrong ideas, and ideas are either-or, but people can not be defined as ideas can be (I am who I am), so we can not judge them. But a person who wants to play it safe and walk the middle way will lose their life as the middle here means average, and to save a life one must become above average, godlike. Lukewarm is sitting on the fence.
There are only two choices in life: to be or not to be. So this is an either-or situation.
We are the ones who are not, God is the one who is. Or use the term you wish: the Truth. Thinking that creatures are the source of anything is a logical fallacy since anything created has its creator. This is not the play of words, as math is not the play of numbers, it is the equation. So if we label the Truth as YES and lies as NO, we are the ones who are divided between yes and no. We have been divided from the Truth by our own choice (Adam and Eve) since we wanted to experience the other side too, sitting on the fence, and reap the benefits of both sides.
We want to be wise without breaking a sweat. Sounds familiar? So anybody who thinks he/she has nothing to do with Adam and Eve should ask him/herself what would make you suffer willingly if you did not need to do so? And if you are willing only up to the limit you decide yourself not more. The idea of getting something for nothing is appealing to the human Heart. Foolish Heart, which has no eyes, just fire, desire falls for anything that seems nice from the first bite.
To live, to be on the path of the Truth, one must learn to recognize lies. When we use lies for cost-benefit purposes, which stems from the same foolish Heart's desire to know the Truth and not suffer much: cost-benefit analysis of the Heart, we never develop the gift of discerning between lies and truth.
Truth and lies are words and ideas, they can only be differentiated through an active Mind (Adam who was NOT present in the decision-making process), and the Soul gifted by counsel/wisdom and fortitude. Hence democracy works only with active Minds and active citizens, freedom of speech, and love for the Truth (Word of God). Without love for the Truth, and righteousness, democracy as a framework will yield bad results: bad people deserve bad governments or the Mind is a reflection of the Heart. Adam was not different from Eve, she had foolish desires, and he had foolish fears (he ate because of fear).
Our sin inherited from Adam and Eve is that we are born divided within ourselves (because separated from the Truth). So our personality which consists of three parts, lacks unity, the more one lacks unity within, the less integrity the personality has. The more there is NO in the person’s Heart the more Ego drama in this world, and the more chaotic World. Physical reality is a mere reflection of the Spiritual/Ideological state of the World. The more void of substance, the more inflated the Ego (or prideful Heart) is, a classic survival instinct we observe in nature.
So we are the ones who make a choice, a decision every day between yes and no. We are like trees: bearers of fruits or consequences of our choices! If we say to the Truth no, we say yes to lies. There is no third option to choose from.
Now humans love to play it smart and think there is a third option and walk the middle line, choosing no when it is hard to say yes, doing a cost-benefit analysis: if I say the Truth now this will cost me my paycheck or I can not bother to tell the truth, someone else will do that. Drowning in YES/NO/YES/NO life, living as dead.
So there is a clear difference between the idea and personality, spiritual and physical, and humans are of both worlds. As ideas can only be either- or, humans can be more YES, more NO, YES-NO mixture of the Spirits. So to live one must go for all or nothing, but to find the Truth around yourself one must develop virtue: the in the middle thing.
The Truth and lies are the Word or a lack of Word/or twisted logic, they are not material, they only materialize through our actions. When we make a choice! This is what “ora et labora” means, pray and work. Pray/thinking/thanking is the same activity of a woke Mind. Woke culture is a culture of Minds that are shut down, in a deep sleep (a label that hides the opposite).
Jesus said Father forgive them as they do not know what they do. This is why knowing that you know nothing is the beginning of the wisdom or fear of God. The idea that we know something on our own, which has not been given to us is similar to thinking one is God. When discerning between false and true one needs self-control and patience, fear of God takes a brave Heart, that does not make a cost-benefit analysis
This is what science looks like: a battle of ideas, a battle of free speech, a debate, a competition for the best idea. And how do we know which idea is the best? From the evidence, like in a sports game, you can see who has better arguments, from the results: equation. If you can not present the theory equation, the theory is not true.
Hence the expression of conspiracy theory is an oxymoron. Theories are made to be debated and exposed for attack and tested for the validity of the arguments. Conspiracy is a debate removed from the eyes of the public, done in the darkness, behind the curtains. So a theory can either be true or false, not conspirative.
People on the other hand can be conspiratorial. They most often are since they are a mystery to themselves too, so you hear saying like, exploring myself. We intuitively feel that we are NOT one, that we are contradictory (St. Paul: I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.).
The only person that is the Truth is Jesus. He IS the Truth, we are NOT.
So if we are NOT, we should be humble enough and agree that the only way to get to the Truth is to clash our ideas and let the best one win, submit to rules we have agreed upon that will let the fair play roll out and yield the best result for everyone, the winner and the looser, because the goal is the Truth. This is why we love sports games, as they represent that idea. So competition is good, losing makes one improve. The free market shows how the price forms, the true price is in the middle of all the wrong prices where supply and demand meet in the middle, or the opposite lies cancel each other out and the best idea lives.
Hence the power is destructive to the truth, and the fair fight between ideas is constructive. We always desire more than we are willing to work for so we need neighbors as a corrective force to put us back on the path of the Truth.
In a simple sentence, we are not a Word, nor an Idea (ideology), but personality divided within because of choosing lies. We can not identify as the Truth, because we are merely creatures, who become united in the Truth, in Jesus, by following, not leading.
To follow the Truth is like knowing Jesus, and it is a preposterous thing to say anybody knows his/her spouse let alone Jesus, the Truth. We are dependent on constant seeking, like on our breath. We can try to survive not breathing, or taking a breath and then not breathing out. If I breathe out the Truth I will not be able to buy myself a nice house. But if I do not breathe out I will suffocate in the future, as I won’t be able to inhale more of the Truth, I am stuck running on the same air, so I need the air from other people, so I need power over them to submit them to myself. In essence, it is a mini-God drama play.
So the black-white view of people, and nations is as wrong as it can be, there is no perfect creature nor the sum of creatures without the Infusion of the breath of God, but there is a black-white view of ideas: either we have an equation or not, either something is true or not. This is why a liar can tell the truth, but a lie can never be true unless we turn it around (metanoia): if it is certainly that Russia blew up Nord Stream 2, it is the least certain proposition, if it is Hollywood, it is probably Hellywood etc.
As explained here lies are best hidden under the labels. In an interview in a David Letterman show Edward Bernays, hundred years old, the father of modern marketing and PR service, one of the most influential men of modern USA consumerism said that the idea behind his concept is that people believe him more if others call him a doctor or PhD. So the idea of marketing is the belief in labels, not the Truth!
The Bible written by many different authors represents the way democracy works the best, through the work of the Holy Spirit that is among many of us. Democracy is a tool using the wisdom of the crowd, based on the logic that ten Minds are worth more than just one and that the Holy Spirit is widespread among us in “amounts” we can not label easily. Democracy will yield the rule of the majority, but if the majority is confused about what they love and want so the results will be confused. The problem is then not in the lack of freedom but the lack of true Ideas. Democracy works only if the majority desires the Truth, through the active citizenry. Consumerism makes citizens very passive creatures who follow labels. The follower of Jesus is not the passive follower or blind worshiper but the one who always seeks the equation between himself and his neighbor regardless of labels. Labels are a human invention, not God’s (God gives names though). Divide et impera is the old tactic of division, not unity! Specialization and labels are the tactics of division.
So if the Truth is Ideal for us, we should always seek it, because we are not the Truth we must obey the Law of Love to stay on the path towards the Truth, and those societies that base themselves on equal freedom of an individual are on the right path. But even people who lie tell the Truth sometimes, and even societies that are based on a lack of individual freedom, can do something well because people and societies are a mixture of lies and the truth, not a black-white World. And also not stable, or constant in time: if they do not progress they regress, and there is no stalemate in life or middle way.
So we should discriminate against ideology and ideas, but not people. Ideas are black or white, humans and societies are a mixed bag of both. The differences between societies can be the same as between individuals, sometimes visible and sometimes subtle. The Devil is in the details since lies are much smaller than the Truth, but they multiply and spread faster, like viruses compared to the Host. Societies that are heavily infected by lies can not prosper, they regress towards complete collapse. Why?
The logical answer to that is: because lies are unsustainable. They always end in death.