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What is truth?
Pontious Pilate famously inquired while looking truth directly in the eye.
He knew.
But when he heard them say
away with him, away
crucify him
we have no king but Caesar
he washed his hands of the matter
and did what pleased them
that trial has never ended
every one of us sits on the jury
we are all Pontious Pilate
conscious of the quiet but unrelenting
testament of the defendant
and the deafening resonance of the prosecution
contending with the same question
“what is truth?”
(I wonder)
who is it that would smile when we say that
that we are incurable cancers to the planet
who would inspire the kind of art that exclaims
that this is all there is
who would spawn such a take
that beauty is bygone
and goodness is a disgrace
who would be happy to have us embrace the nothingness of nihilism
who would slither in with such a worldview
who would be objectively jubilant to have us believe
that there is no objective truth and that
we should modify our morality to fit our behavior
instead of vice versa
I guess its vice versus virtue
we all know the truth
even though sometimes we wish we didn’t
sometimes we pretend there is no wrong
so that we can condone wrong
or convince other people to go wrong
so that we’re not alone in the wrong
but dawning the darkest of sunglasses
does not extinguish the light
right is right even if nobody is right
and wrong is wrong even if everybody is going along
maybe that’s why they convicted the innocent
and banished him to the cross
why they lashed and laughed and mocked
and chanted for assassination
truth can be relative if God is recanted from the equation
with no higher being to set the standard for the people
anyone can call evil good, and good evil
there’s no infraction a rationale can’t be rationed out for
no principle they can’t have it out for
the silence is deafening when you mute the immutable
Nietzsche noticed this and noted it with caution
see, the preachers of the post-modern doctrine
are not the first to allege that God is dead
but there’s still nowhere to go after the funeral
in this post-modern concoction
“who will wipe the blood from our garments
what water is holy enough to cleanse us
what festivals of atonement shall we attend
what sacred games shall we invent”
pray tell
how do we declare rape reprehensible
if it’s just one set of molecules knocking into another set that’s less able to defend itself
or slavery disdainful if it’s just an array of atoms arranged in chain-link fashion that happened to trap another
or the iniquity of murder if it’s just one clump of cells determining that another clump of cells doesn’t deserve the dignity
who will wipe the blood from our consciouses
well, if we consecrate ourselves gods and goddesses
then instead of climbing a mountain fo find truth
we can just drag the mountain to us
and demand that its majestic peaks crumble into dust
never mind the civilizations that we might bumble or crush
but
jumping out of 40 story buildings because gravity is a social construct
doesn’t change the nature of the pavement
these shattered anatomies are shouting
that something’s amiss
God forgive this audacity
God forgive us for thinking that we can never do anything that warrants forgiveness
God forbid this navel-gazing
I’m not saying it’s always easy to look up
to discover
but I can say this
we can search for truth
or we can search for comfort
only one of those two will bring the other
my truth is what makes me feel good
THE truth is what makes me do good
my truth will let me be
THE truth will let me become
my truth might get me through the day
THE truth will get me through this whole life
and beyond
my truth will waver, and change
THE truth will not be shaken by my inclinations or your opinion
it cannot be lobbied, or slackened by sacrilege
it will not falter, and will never be altered by activists
my truth will reveal my entitlements
THE truth will heal, enliven, and enlighten when
darkness swarms
when distortion becomes the norm
when the obvious becomes too dangerous to speak of
we must never underestimate the effects
because when truth is the first casualty of an ideology
freedom will always be the next
truth, beauty, and goodness are true, beautiful, and good
and I shouldn’t have to say so
we are not biohazards
this is not all there is
truth is not what those regarded as important tell us to believe
or groupthink that the mob has compelled us to believe
we do not need to pay the toll that they would take
rape and slavery and murder are wrong
not because of protons or electrons
but because souls are at stake
there’s nothing more important than
discerning the difference
between what truth isn’t
and what it is
because when you have no king but Ceasar
you have no truth but his
ladies and gentlemen of the jury
find courage
do not wash your hands of the responsibility
standing up for truth is worth it
even if you’re persecuted for trying to preserve it
fear not what men may say or do
fear not what we were made to be
because when you know the truth
the truth shall make you free
