‘Truth’ and the passionate vocal minority

This has been in me for some time.  I see myself in this.

Anytime my biases rise up within me and I start to toot a certain tune, I’m doing both myself and others consuming me a potential disservice... if the truth I espouse (MY truth) doesn’t accord for the gaps in my knowledge, motivation, love, and other factors I’m unaware of or don’t care to cater for.

I admit, I’m as susceptible as anyone is.

Especially when I’m passionate (read, upset) by a thing.

~

The vocal minority speak a sliver of truth without ever representing the whole truth.

We all see only part of the truth, yet our human biases have us setting up to conduct a trade in truth—i.e., using the word “truth,” it conveys “truth” in its absolute sense; nobody talks about truth in a partial sense.

Truth is something we all feel we can genuinely trade in, and that’s because we’re all passionate for it.

But as God’s ways are NOT our ways, nor are God’s thoughts our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9), we miss the mark every single time.  (I don’t need to spiritualise this, but let’s assume for the sake of a well-reasoned argument that “GOD” is the entirety of truth—like, lock, stock, and barrel.)

None of us see everything there is to see, 
nor are any of us interested morally in 
EVERY corner of the truth.

Yet vocal minorities speak authoritatively on subjects they’re usually not subject matter experts on.

Vocal minorities have their position, informed by a broad range of prejudice and bias, and the views of the experts they choose to align with—to the exclusion of those experts who speak different truths.  Sure, there are subject matter experts that have their own reasons and motivations adverse to non-mainstream lines.  They have SOME truth, but not ALL the truth.

The point is, nobody has a corner of the whole truth, yet governments have the ROLE (yes, that’s why we elect them; to rule over us) to develop policy around the values that presumably the people have said are important (gets back to the vote).

When a vocal minority gets upset that a government is ‘controlling’ society, for one current instance, they need to remember that THIS is the government’s role: to govern, which is to make decisions from established policies, and the government is empowered to execute these decisions—to enact them.

Not only do governments make and execute policy, they’re also accountable to the voter for their performance.  I know there’s a lot of nuance in all this, but there is a measure of justice for the power governments hold—a perfect justice, no, not for any government, and this is part of the imperfect life we’ve been born into.

Anyone who thinks that one party or side of government is consistently better than another side is deluded—our individual values don’t represent everyone’s values.

In the social media world we live in, we’re reminded that our voice is not only our power, but also our responsibility too.  Does our voice always represent the entire truth?

Can anyone hold their hand to their heart—before this God of truth—and say they have?

Would we intentionally mislead others?  And how often do we ask ourselves, “Am I being misled?”

We’re all counselled to show more restraint when we speak our truth.