How truth can lead to silent terrorism or even war
Truth is not about us and is true no matter if everybody is convinced it is
wrong or decrees that it is wrong. Though truth is not about us, we need it. The
apple on the tree is not about you but you may need it. So truth then is
necessarily narrow. People need it even if they hate it. It hurts nobody and
those who hate it hurt themselves. People mix lies with truth and tell half the
truth. They are enemies of truth. A problem arises. Because truth is not about
us it is intolerant. This intolerance is a necessary evil. The alternative would
be worse. A heap of suffering over truth is better than the same one over lies.
Truth can lead to warfare. How? Truth stands whether we agree with truth or not
but lies attempt to create a fake truth. If truth can lead to intolerance,
imagine how much fake truth will. Once lies are sanctioned as the truth a
slippery slope is started. Soon there will be countless factions all disagreeing
with each other each with their own set of lies.
Truth can lead to silent terrorism - the type where people feel they will be
looked down on and hated behind their backs if they question it.
A man-made religion that claims to be from God and thus to be the truth simply
has to end up dodgy. It already is even if it does not know it.
Mother Teresa was about using the plight of the sick and dying to make
Catholicism smell of flowers. And the evidence that Catholicism is from man and
not from God and that there are problems with Jesus's ethics is overwhelming. I
call a religion that won't update its teaching when new light comes up
fundamentalist. Notably there is no process in Catholicism for dealing with
extremists. The Church will not punish you for shooting abortionists in the name
of religion. But it will give out half hearted meaningless condemnations to keep
itself looking good.
Truth is not about us or what we want to think or what we think we should think.
It is not about us at all. It will not serve us however to defy it. Those who
defy it hurt others. Often a religion comes along that claims to be the truth.
Truth is intrinsically intolerant.
Truth is a necessary evil but a religion claiming to be truth cannot be a
necessary evil if it is not the truth. It is just an evil.
Objective Morality
If morality is real and objective, then it is factual. You do not have a right
to your own facts so it follows that morality should be forced on people.
If morality is not real, the it is okay if you force for nothing is really
immoral. This is the relativist view.
To create a God who sanctions these things, to worship God for doing so, is
going too far. Both views are dangerous and should not be given that glory. They
are bad enough by themselves without you trying to make them more insulting and
forceful by making them representative of God.
