Alternative Facts, Morality, & Trust

“The inexperienced one believes anything, but the sensible one watches his steps.” (Proverbs 14:15)

It stands to reason that we as a species have a tendency to be naïve about many things over the course of our lives. Such naivety is rooted most often in inexperience and unfamiliarity. The wicked among us manipulate this inclination, turning clarity to mud and sensibility to madness. None of us, I think, are immune to this psychological phenomenon in totality.

Take me, for example. I once believed that morality had a swathe of shades of gray. Don’t get me wrong; there are certainly situations where the right thing to do isn’t perfectly clear. But for the most part, things are transparently black and white. The Ten Commandments (taken from Exodus 20:1-17 and abbreviated) outline this pretty well:

Do not have other gods besides Me. (Exodus 20:3)
Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. (Exodus 20:4)
Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God. (Exodus 20:7)
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8)
Honor your father and mother. (Exodus 20:12)
Do not murder.
Do not commit adultery.
Do not steal.
Do not bear false testimony against your neighbor.
Do not covet your neighbor’s house, wife, or belongings.

Of course, following the list of commands is a pretty tall order. Arguably impossible for a man. Indeed, their purpose isn’t to be an exhaustive list of do’s and don’ts so much as to inform the believer that he/she cannot attain holiness by their own will. Break one commandment and you’ve broken them all.

Which commandment is the easiest to break? The first: do not have other gods besides Me. Why? Because to have no other Gods, no idols, to honor Him, you must keep all the commandments. And the greatest command, as Jesus says, is this:

“He said to him, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

So He summarizes the Law and the Lord’s commands as above. Tell me, who among us truly loves the Lord their God with all of their heart, mind, and soul? Who among us has never disrespected his neighbor? The answer, I should think, is none of us.

But what does this have to do with inexperience and blind belief in that which is false? The point is that at one time, I thought in terms of human morality. I saw man as righteous, as having the capacity to judge fairly. But this is wrong. This is sinful. Man cannot judge of his own accord. A man without God is a man adrift at sea, a hapless fisherman caught in a tidal wave of frustration, failure, and wrong-headed thinking.

Man is not the judge. Morality is ordained by God who is Good. But we try. Our feeble attempts at executing our own morality is what leads to much death, destruction, and sin in the world. Man judges the life of one more precious than another. But Scripture says that all men are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Both of these contradictory points cannot be true.

So why am I bringing all this up? Well, it starts with taking a good look at the world around us. How much media coverage discusses the concept of fake news? How does one know which so-called “alternative fact” to trust? Everything and anything has been politicized, codified, and made to serve the ambitions and drive of one politician or another. It’s ridiculous and I think people on both sides should agree on that at the very least.

This has been the practice for centuries. A man (or woman) concocts a bogus idea, publicizes it, and before long people are latching onto it as the truth. Remember the humors? This is the idea of different temperaments being affected by four bodily fluids called humors. Here’s the gist below:

Imbalance creates mood and condition under this system. An abundance of blood makes one sanguine. Black bile makes one melancholic. Phlegm leads to peaceful and quiet behavior. Yellow bile produces independence and a decisive drive. What nonsense! Yet it was believed and studied and practiced for hundreds of years (well into the nineteenth century) by doctors and supposedly educated men.

This is just one example of man getting it wrong. Men of renown and practice, men of “science” putting forth a laughable concept as the genuine article. But people believed them. These men were studied and respected, after all. Why would they lie? How could they not know? Was it simply ignorance or were they having a lark on the public for multiple centuries?

The truth is simpler: arrogance. Man always believes he possesses the truth when he doesn’t. Man is quick to gratify and congratulate himself far ahead of his due. This is why we have conflicting data on climate change. This is why evolution is enforced as a secular religion. This is why one scientist says homosexuality is potentially learned behavior and another claims it’s genetic or a chemical imbalance.

Man always wants to be first to know something. He doesn’t want to wait for authority to answer him. He doesn’t care if the data is faulty or there’s no support. He wants the story, the big scoop, the guide to life in the palm in his hand. He wants personal godhood, and he’s wanted it since the Garden of Eden.

My advice: trust God and not yourself, your media, or the general philosophies of man. Scripture says:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

I have never been wise except in my own eyes. But He is and that’s an unchanging truth. It’s not an alternative fact. It’s not political spin. It’s not the oft-disputed consensus of scientism. It’s just cold, hard, raw fact.

Maybe I’m wrong about this, you say. Perhaps I am. But I’ll take the risk of trusting the Lord over man any day. He’s proven Himself above and beyond what any man could hope to achieve.

Thanks and praise belong to Him. Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend. God bless and peace be with you.