Putiputi Fleming
As a young child I believed what my parents and those in authority told me about the world – about intentions, systems and humankind. I didn’t always agree with their interpretation, but I had no reason to believe they would intentionally mislead or manipulate me or, worse still, that they would try to pass something they thought to be a lie as truth.
Growing up, ‘shades of grey’ were limited although I am certain they existed. The truth was the truth and most people, at least within my social circle, believed the same as I did, making anything outside my scope of influence to be untrue or not worth worrying about. How things change!
I grew up in a faith-based setting so my worldview was strongly influenced by Judaeo-Christian principles. Even if I wanted something that had tinges of untruth to it to desperately be the truth, there were other influences that took precedence: such as my pervasive sense of right and wrong, knowledge of justice and injustice plus the ever-present inner moral compass – the latter being hard to live with on occasion.
Fast forward almost 60 years and I now see that life was so easy in the ’60s and ’70s. Opposing views were limited mainly to politics, religion and football. Don’t get me wrong, rumours about climate change, WEF, global government control, assassinations, moon landings and nuclear war were alive and well but very firmly in the ‘conspiracy theorist’ camp. Being a conspiracy theorist was reserved for a select few. It was easy to ignore their rants.
In 2023 following a global ‘virus’, forced vaccination and overt takeover bids courtesy of the multi-billionaire elite, we live in a world where access to the internet means our neurons are saturated with just about every conceivable conspiracy theory possible and, of course, truth is subjective. The boundaries between good and bad, right and wrong and up and down have become blurred. Not only do we no longer have pure unadulterated ‘truth’, but versions of such in various different hues that tickle our fancy and call out, enticing us with offers of peace, safety and community.
Current generations are flagrantly influenced by popular world views and Hollywood opinion. Academia tells us how to think and how to interpret the truth according to them. Our children and grandchildren have no reason to doubt the narrative. Until they do.
‘Truth’ has become a fragile commodity. Even those within our sphere of influence have a different understanding of truth; truth is a continuum that determines ‘lines in the sand’, ‘who we trust’, ‘who we break bread with’. Truth is no longer negotiable: it is also persuadable.
Clear breaches of truth should be easy to identify – right? Two plus two equals four, until someone comes along and with a sleight of hand determines that two is no longer just a number and is in fact subject to the rights and feelings of everyone around us.
Many of us have stood in our own truth over the last three years. Some have even joined groups where truth was a common denominator; often, however, that is where it gets confusing. Where there is some truth there is often also some untruth by means of syncretism. A little bit of truth and a little bit of a lie. Mix it up and no one will know. Just enough so those who are brought together by passionate means can convince others about items on their agenda that fit the general direction of the narrative and trick us into believing we are all on the same page. A common bond. Anything goes. Freedom. I could name a few things here, but would risk the ire of those who purport such things to be true…even the hallowed halls of peer-reviewed journals purporting that research as truth or data as solid are now open to abuse.
I long for times past when it was OK for my truth to be ‘my truth’ and I could manage the influence of others without fear of raising my head above the parapet if I stepped out of line. To be in a place where I am not rocked by the ‘truth’ of others that leads my internal self into chaos and fatigue and lends itself to undermining efforts to fight the mainstream narrative, which of itself has represented its own version of the truth for many years.
I long to be the proverbial boat that is not rocked around by ‘every wind of doctrine’. That stands firm in what I know to be right and wrong, black and white, male and female…
To embrace a premise where Creator God represents the ‘truth, the life and the way’. To use a guidebook that clearly articulates what real truth is, where to find it and how to apply it to life. To remove the doubt, be focused and clear minded.
I suspect we need a good dose of ‘wisdom’ to speak the truth, to live the truth, to be the truth.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32
