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Truth, Not Slogans

Truth, Not Slogans

By Alice C. Linsley
Special to Virtueonline
www.virtueonline.org
March 1, 2015

Americans love slogans as evidenced by the bumper stickers that adorn our vehicles. Campaign managers and public relations experts are not the only people who specialize in slogans. Christian congregations ride the slogan band wagon as well, reducing deep truths to cliches.

Terrorists have slogans designed to intimidate and inspire. Slogans can rally people to a cause, but people do not sacrifice their lives for slogans. They die for truth. When ISIS terrorists kidnapped 21 workers in Libya, a non-Christian from Chad was caught in the net. He could have joined his captors, but instead he chose to die. It is reported that some who watched Christians being killed in the Roman "games" jumped into the stadium to die with them.

The Obama campaign of 2008 gave us the slogan: Hope and Change, and hoisted this mantra: "Change we can believe in." These became so popular that hardly anyone paid attention to the 2012 slogan: "Forward" and many doubt that the present administration can take the nation forward. We are still waiting for change we can believe in.

In reality, nothing has changed. There is no moving forward as a people. Instead we have division, discontent and disruption at every level and in every sector of our society. The machinery of government is stalled. Science and technology are held hostage to agenda-driven funding. Corporations are desperate for people who can think original thoughts. The media shamelessly entertains rather than informs. Education is ham-strung by Dewey's Marxist-atheist theory and institutional hoop jumping. Other than the increase in bureaucratic red tape, nothing has changed.

Christians are the leaven, the salt, the light... we are the ones who must bring real change. What are we waiting for? No agency is going to give Christians a green light speak the truth, to declare liberty to captives, to bind up wounds, and to make disciples of all nations. Instead we can expect obstacles in our path. Obstacles and opposition are what Christians and truth seekers have always experienced. Other than the worldwide increase in hostility, nothing has changed.

Where might we begin to bring real change as Christians? We must begin at the beginning, by going back to what our parents and teachers tried to instill in us as young children: always tell the truth! Prepare to explain, defend, and expound on truth. All truth is God's truth, and though demons rant at truth, they ultimately must flee before bold truth.

If Christian schools and colleges would set aside the hoop-jumping approach to education and get serious about training students to think, they would produce great thinkers and leaders for our nation.

We must abandon John Dewey's educational philosophy which excoriates truth and wisdom. His approach has the effect of breaking the three rules of the founder of Pragmatism, Charles Sanders Peirce, who wrote in 1896: "Upon this first...rule of reason, that in order to learn you must desire to learn, and in so desiring not be satisfied with what you already incline to believe, there follows one corollary which itself deserves to be inscribed upon every wall of the city of philosophy: Do not block the way of inquiry." Dewey's Marxist principles have proven to be a major block.

American students are not to discuss topics such as eternity, the soul, the relationship of humans to other living creatures, the order of creation, God, the meaning of human existence, etc. Teachers and students cannot discuss things that matter to truth seekers. Christian schools must create a space for metaphysical discourse.

We must seek wisdom. God promises wisdom to all who diligently seek it. True wisdom is not self-evident. It is veiled. The curious will draw near and pursue it with vigor. Hard work is involved. Wisdom is not granted to the lazy and complacent. They remain in ignorance and are the prey of totalitarian leaders.

We must question narratives that do not align with the facts.

We must confront racism and all forms of prejudice that make people lie about others.

We must confront false representations of Christianity and distorted interpretations of the Bible.

We must be prepared to pay a price. It takes courage to speak the truth. Truth is constantly challenged by those who impose lies for personal gain. Truth often extracts a high price. In every generation the prophets are killed by those who have no tolerance for truth and wisdom.

St. Augustine once said, "The truth is like a lion: You don't have to defend it. Let is loose. It will defend itself."

Alice Linsley is a Christian Apologist. She has been pioneering the field of Biblical Anthropology for over 30 years. She teaches Philosophy and Ethics and is a member of the American Scientific Affiliation. She is a contributor to Virtueonline

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