The UAP Question

Unfortunately, we have all been given the dubious blessing of living in interesting times.  Things seem to grow stranger and more bewildering with each passing day.  Whether it is the nonsensical gender identity/fluidity debate, Russia’s own hired mercenaries making a wild dash for Moscow, ridiculous conspiracy theories gaining traction, or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) swooping in and out of the news, there is a lot to process.  While Joel 2:30 and Matthew 24 point to signs in heaven as well as “wars and rumors of wars” that signal the onset of end times or tribulation, it can become harder to consistently focus upon Christ with these distractions pulling us ever further away.  This turmoil may lead some to a concern that the strange events themselves point to a chaotic and uncontrolled reality untouched today by the hand of God.  This, then may also lead to the misguided idea that perhaps perception is reality.  That is, for instance, why continue to oppose things such as gender identity or abortion, if everything is going crazy around us and God has supposedly exited stage right?  After all, wouldn’t it be easier to just give in and “make nice?”  Please allow me a personal example to begin this look as I focus here on the UAP question--as it intersects with a person of faith, in particular.

 

A number of years ago, we lived a half hour away in the town of Salem, Oregon.  We had a nice ranch style home in a great neighborhood, situated within just a few blocks of our church.  One activity I enjoyed was to stand on my expansive (greatly missed) back deck and stare up at the night sky to take in the stars.  It was not unusual for me to catch the distant streak of a meteor or unwavering glint of a satellite high above.  Something else caught my eye one particular evening.  It appeared from the north heading south overhead.  Its triangular or “V” shape was more inferred than seen, as the sky and stars were partially blotted out overhead by this large, unknown craft.  Everything around me was remarkably still; absolutely no sound came from the thing gliding south above me.  I attempted to take a photo with my phone, but, of course, it was just blackness.  Before I could call my wife, the object was gone into the night—still heading south, as last I could discern.  My mind went briefly to the Native American tales of the thunderbird, except this thing was clearly enormous and mechanical in nature.  When you have nothing on which to gauge or compare size or height precisely, it is difficult to estimate proportions, but it certainly appeared to dwarf any aircraft of which I am familiar, and the absolute silence made it highly unlikely to be…from around here.

 

Since I am the guy writing this, I might as well sheepishly confess that this wasn’t the only occurrence.  I also saw multiple lights come together and then speed apart at a high rate of speed across the night sky of the Yakima Valley when I was just a child.  I tried to explain what I saw, but the adults in my life at the time assumed that I had simply been watching too much television.  Time to limit those Star Trek episodes perhaps?  Many years later when I heard that the FBI had made some large freedom of information releases online, I decided to search for my hometown and “UFOs.”  While I recalled locating information in that particular database, it must have been elsewhere.  The information I did begin to uncover, however, suggested that there were numerous other substantiated reports of occurrences along these lines dating back at least to the early 1970s.  In January 2019. For example, the Yakima Herald Republic ran an article exploring some of these instances. 

 

Some look at the question of potential alien life—just like certain social issues—and decide that it undermines faith, demanding a new way of understanding the spiritual and physical world; they are viewed as mutually exclusive.  While alien life would require some spiritual retooling perhaps, it need not damage one’s faith.  It may surprise readers to learn that C.S. Lewis addressed the issue of alien life in one of his essays—as well as his last recorded interview.  

 

…usually, when the popular hubbub has subsided and the novelty has been chewed over by real theologians, real scientists and real philosophers, both sides 

find themselves pretty much where they were before. So it was with Copernican astronomy, with Darwinism, with Biblical Criticism, with the new psychology. So, I 

cannot help expecting, it will be with the discovery of "life on other planets" If that discovery is ever made. 

 

The supposed threat is clearly directed against the doctrine of the Incarnation, the belief that God of God "for us men and for our salvation came down from 

heaven and was . . . made man." Why for us men more than for others? If we find ourselves to be but one among a million races, scattered through a million spheres, how can we, without absurd arrogance, believe ourselves to have been uniquely favored? I admit that the question could become formidable. 

 

Lewis, CS.  “Religion and Rocketry,” The World’s Last Night

 

 

It’s important to make a brief digression here.  Some extremely intelligent Catholics are making the somewhat naïve argument that all UAPs originate with the devil as further distractions from what is good and true.  While the devil may indeed may play some role here, I’d like to respectfully remind these writers that it seems highly implausible that evil spirits can interfere with humanity to the degree that they are able/permitted to take a nuclear missile system offline as has been revealed took place at the Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota on October 24, 1966 or that they can be seen and recorded by pilots and radar installations around the world.  (The following is one written account of many available of the 1966 incident.  This particular best-seller by journalist Leslie Kean brings together former military, commercial pilot, and air traffic controller accounts of interactions with UAPs from over the last half century, or so, and it includes testimony from those hailing from multiple countries.)

 

 Something very extraordinary also occurred one year earlier at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota: On October 24, 1966, the Minuteman missile system was adversely affected during an afternoon while UFOs were sighted from the ground by multiple observers at three separate missile sites for over three hours, and two objects were tracked on radar. Communications and radio transmissions between various facilities monitoring the events were disrupted by static when the UFO came close to the site. 

 

At 4:49 p.m. the outside and interior security alarms of safety for the Oscar 7 missile silo were activated at the control desk located sixteen kilometers (ten miles) away. A security team was dispatched and discovered that not only was the fence open but the horizontal door closing the missile silo was also open. This reinforced-concrete door weighed nearly twenty tons and there were no tire tracks nor any record of a visit that could account for this.

 

Kean, Leslie. UFOs (p. 139). Crown. Kindle Edition.

 

When one reads or hears first-person accounts from both military and commercial pilots, they do seem to carry more weight; these are people trained to observe and work under pressure.  More recently, UFO whistleblowers like retired Air Force Officer David Gruisch have also gone even further in expressing his concern as to what nefarious activities government may be involved in concerning these objects.

 

Be that as it may, what the issue really does come down to how Leslie Kean articulates this issue in the introduction.  

 

To approach UFOs rationally, we must maintain the agnostic position regarding their nature or origin, because we simply don’t know the answers yet. By being agnostics, we are taking a giant step forward. So often, the UFO debate fuels two polarities, both representing untenable positions. On one side, the “believers” proclaim that extraterrestrials have arrived from outer space and that we already know that UFOs are alien vehicles, and on the other, the “debunkers” argue with aggressive defensiveness that UFOs don’t exist at all. This counterproductive battle has unfortunately dominated public discourse for a long time, only heightening confusion and creating more distance from the scientific—the agnostic—approach.

 

Kean, Leslie. UFOs (pp. 12-13). Crown. Kindle Edition.

 

With the recent Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing on UAPs, it’s abundantly clear that we can’t close our eyes to their reality.  Whatever these objects may prove be, they do appear to be part of our reality.  As such, it’s probably best that we begin to get our minds around that fact.  Yes, certainly some supposed interactions may be manifestations of the devil for purposes of deception, but spiritual entities don’t engage in dogfights with military jets or shutdown nuclear missile silos.  At any rate, I believe this is an important foundation to bear in mind, because confusion abounds when we over generalize about subject matter such as this.  The UAP issue is potentially so important, I believe, as perhaps another ringing sign that we may be approaching end times and serves as a gentle reminder to be vigilant.  (Bear in mind that that this is just my opinion, so feel free to take it with a couple grains of salt.)

Added a couple of my own astrophotography shots in early 2024.

 

 

Visiting "God's Thumb" (via the Knoll)

"God's Thumb" (Lincoln City, Oregon)

Did an interesting hike yesterday: "God's Thumb." (See AllTrails for the details.) It was a gorgeous hike, and the view at the end was magnificent...but I almost cashed in my chips. This hike had me feeling my age. If you're a young guy or an athletic older person, go for it, but my suggestion is take my short-cut route instead to Cascade Head.

I tried to capture the trail conditions and the steepness in some of my photographs, but it works about as well as photographing the giant trees on the Coast--proportions fail to really convey true nature. In case you're wondering, no, I did not venture onto God's "thumbnail," as the trail looked as safe as my first car navigating Queen Anne Blvd in Seattle; don't really care for heights. So, unless family members really want me to take them back for some mysterious reason, I think I'll stick to Cascade Head via the Hwy 101 short-cut.

Remembering May 18, 1980

 

 

It seems like such a long time ago now.  I was just short of being a teenager, and I remember the Sunday began sunny in Washington State's Yakima Valley.  I recall on the drive out to West Valley to pick up two children for church that I remarked that the clouds reminded me of an upside down egg carton.  They looked very peculiar.  

Some time later, about the time my grandfather was finishing a Sunday school lesson on the book of Revelation (entertaining timing for years to come),  we noticed it was growing dark outside.  Someone must have caught the news report on the radio; it was the first we had heard of the eruption.  I remember we drove home in the dark with the headlights on through the gently falling ash, which sounded something like whispering from inside the car.   

The two girls we took to church had to shelter with us, as the roads were not considered safe. (The two girls were Shannon and Mora McGowan.  Tragically, Mora committed suicide in Portland in 1998.  All I remember is that she was a bubbly and happy reader.). An hour or two later, sometime in the early afternoon, I ventured outside for a few minutes.  I remember it was still like night.  I don't believe that the sun began to break through until close to sunset.   

 According to news reports, a number of roofs collapsed as a result of the ash fall, and machinery also broke down across the valley.  Some farmers said that the ash produced better crops, while others swore the opposite; it depended on with whom you spoke.    

   

 

Skewering Wokeism

In the late 1980s and 1990s, it was known as political correctness.  Personalities such as Rush Limbaugh took it on mercilessly on his show, yet the movement continued to grow and develop to the sad place we find ourselves today: where jobs and careers are lost over what would seem the most ridiculous reasons a few years ago.  We are more familiar with this phenomenon today as wokeism.  Let’s see how it is satirically approached by the Babylon Bee.

 

NATIONALITY Being woke is all about diversity. We love people of ALL nationalities and want the whole world to just be a big melting pot of all cultures, creeds, and nations. 

 

Except, of course, Americans. America is a disgusting place filled with white nationalists who could learn a thing or two from more advanced socialist countries like Venezuela or the Soviet Union. 

 

So if you’re a white Christian American male, you’ve got a real problem, because your entire existence is basically a plague upon the earth. You need to spend all your days online apologizing to people from superior countries for the place you’re ashamed to call home. The nice thing is you don’t actually have to put your money where your mouth is and move to Canada. You can just constantly threaten to leave the country and say things like “UGH, I’M SORRY FOR MY FELLOW AMERICANS” and “I’M TOTALLY MOVING TO CANADA THE NEXT TIME A REPUBLICAN WINS THE PRESIDENCY!!!” But you can keep reaping the benefits of American prosperity while never leaving for a country that’s not doing as well.

 

Babylon Bee. The Babylon Bee Guide to Wokeness (p. 20). Salem Books. Kindle Edition.

 

Another thought-provoking take on wokeism is voiced by Michael Rectenwald, Chief Academic Officer, American Scholars. In a December 2021 piece for Imprimis, he wrote the following.  (Note that before referring to the Great Reset, he referred to the contextual information and basis to support his argument--less so that it was an inevitable outcome, but more that there were indeed powerful individuals who wished to make it so by taking advantage of every calamity available to them.)


...Other developments that advance the Great Reset agenda have included unfettered immigration, travel restrictions for otherwise legal border crossing, the Federal Reserve’s unrestrained printing of money and the subsequent inflation, increased taxation, increased dependence on the state, broken supply chains, the restrictions and job losses due to vaccine mandates, and the prospect of personal carbon allowances.

Such policies reflect the “fairness” aspect of the Great Reset—fairness requires lowering the economic status of people in wealthier nations like the U.S. relative to that of people in poorer regions of the world. One of the functions of woke ideology is to make the majority in developed countries feel guilty about their wealth, which the elites aim to reset downwards—except, one notices, for the elites themselves, who need to be rich in order to fly in their private jets to Davos each year.

I thought this was a particularly good time to quickly raise this issue as there have been several excellent talks lately that I wanted to share with my growing audience.  Together, perhaps we can put an end to the censorship and cowardice betrayed by wokeism if we learn to stand our ground and better articulate our positions--with respect and courtesy.

Language and brief image warning for the above, but the message of this Bill Maher monologue is a timely one.

 

Marijuana and its Unintended Consequences

Not so long ago, the issue of legalized marijuana used to be the stuff of somewhat esoteric political debates between Republicans and Libertarians—maybe the occasional anarchist thrown in for good measure.  Even stalwart Republicans of the 1970 era like William F. Buckley, Jr, founder of the National Review, was a vocal supporter of its decriminalization.  It’s no surprise that everyone from Rick Steves to Brad Pitt and Miley Cyrus are extolling the virtues of pot at nearly every opportunity—some more careful than others, of course, about potentially alienating wide swaths of fan their fan base.

 

I was never taken in by siren call of marijuana; I knew of too many people who used it.  I noticed how they lost their spark, their vitality, and even ambition or a desire to make something better of themselves.  They disappeared into a murky mediocrity, surviving rather than thriving.  In many ways, it reminds me of Huxley's soma.  When I had the opportunity to work for a time in the Tobacco Tax Compliance field for state government, my eyes were further opened to the interconnected nature of the black-market in selling to a surprising number of establishments, and, then, in turn, often using the proceeds to support some very dangerous causes.  Despite Rick Steves’ glowing assertions otherwise, I was always confident that it was only a matter of time until organized crime stepped in to take a piece of the action.  After all, not all growers and producers are going to be satisfied with the built-in containment measures of the current system; they want to expand and grow.  That expansion has to go somewhere, and that means the illegal market.  Imagine someone blowing up a balloon; it’s eventually going to pop.  If you see state laws and regulations as the thin veneer of containment, 

 

I know of so-called conservatives who even market marijuana or its derivatives.  They apparently make a good enough living at it that those nagging concerns in the back of their minds have grown much quieter now over time.  What are some of these associated costs, though?  You might be surprised to learn of profoundly negative environmental, social and economic, health, psychological, and even livability issues associated with its grow and production.  I decided to gather some items here and share a related thought or two as it relates.  These will mostly be short paragraphs followed by related links.  I’m keeping the links in the visible form in order that you can see the sites before accessing them; they’re not all Fox News, for example.

 

Leading with one’s weakest point is not usually a good debate strategy, but in this case I’ll note that the quality of life argument seems the hardest to quantify objectively.  Other than a few articles like this one, there aren’t many examples of newspaper stories and the like talking about how the nature or feel of loved towns has been lost forever due to this drug.  While I had one particular story recounted to me from a resident in Eastern Oregon about how awful things had become in her neighborhood, too little information remains from the contact to use it in any kind of a meaningful way here.  While many of us may feel that the presence of these establishments somehow negatively impacts our daily life, there’s no way to quantify this.  Further, in states such as Colorado, reports actually suggest that the added tax revenue may be increasing the value of existing neighborhoods.

 

Okay, so enough with the lukewarm reception, because now it’s going to get downright chilly in here.  Surprisingly, some very large illegal grow operations have been taken down in Southern Oregon by law enforcement in recent years—particularly Jackson County.  These raids don’t only include the illegal grows themselves, but also what are called “narco slaves.”  These are agricultural laborers who are forced to work in these poor living conditions for extended periods of time under threats of constant violence. 

 

Narco Slaves, Organized Crime, & Social Impact

 

Narco Slaves:   https://abcnews.go.com/US/narco-slaves-migrant-workers-face-abuse-oregons-cartel/story?id=95069523

 

Exploited Workers, https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/10/02/weed-cannabis-undocumented-immigrants-00059827

 

Captives of Cannabis, https://www.nbc.com/nightly-news-films/video/captives-of-cannabis-human-trafficking-in-the-marijuana-industry-part-2/NBCN606981904

 

Modern Day Slaves:  https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2022/09/30/nbcs-jacob-soboroff-discovers-ties-between-marijuana-industry-and-modern-day-slaves/?sh=23bab26039c4

 

The Reality of Legal Weed in California, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-09-08/reality-of-legal-weed-in-california-illegal-grows-deaths

 

US Cannabis Industry and Organized Crime, https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/u-s-cannabis-industry-may-be-linked-to-international-organized-crime-officials-say-159567941894

 

California’s Pot Legalization Failures, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-09-22/california-legal-pot-measure-has-not-met-expectations

 

Another unintended consequence of the legalization of marijuana has been the negative health effects on the young.  There is significant evidence that the adolescent brain may suffer particular harm from consumption of pot.  In some people who have a pre-existing mental health condition, the marijuana may also greatly worsen the situation—particularly in terms of violence.  A popular “shock jock” on Fox News made the argument, for example, that marijuana is what is behind the school shooters.  He got this idea from an article out of Cambridge, but he took its conclusions likely just a bit too far.  The article’s focus is individuals who are already psychotic.  It’s possible this could apply to some—or even many—of the school shooters, but the way it was presented on Fox News doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence in citing it confidently at this time.  (You might add marijuana to the list I conveyed in my own article on this topic as one additional potential factor in school shootings.)  Besides the harm it causes the body, inadvertent consumption of cannabis edibles by children is a skyrocketing reason for Emergency Room visits.

 

Health Consideration Links

 

Consumption of Marijuana Edibles Surges by Children,  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/04/health/children-eating-edibles-weed.html

 

Marijuana’s Effect on Adolescents, https://www.cdc.gov/marijuana/health-effects/teens.html

 

Cannabis and the Adolescent Brain, https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1920325116

 

Physical Risks of Marijuana, https://www.samhsa.gov/marijuana

 

Marijuana’s Connection to Violence, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7084484/

 

Persistent Cannabis Use and Violent Behavior, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41537-020-0104-x

 

Where Pot Became Legal, Car Accident Deaths Rose, https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2022-07-19/where-pot-became-legal-car-crash-deaths-rose-study

 

The environmental destruction brought by illegal marijuana grows is also thoroughly documented.  One of the first times I began thinking about this issue was when a lovely lavender farm just north of us was converted to a large marijuana grow operation.  I like going out at night and star watch, so I was really taken aback by the light pollution produced by this operation.  At night, it looked like a pillar of light towering above the facility.  I briefly tried to raise concerns over this environmental harm with my state representatives, but they didn’t seem to care.  Most likely, they are on the receiving end of donations from these groups anyway.  It’s the harm of the illegal operations, though, that really deserve a closer look.  

 

Environmental Damage of Illegal Marijuana Grows

 

Legalizing Marijuana and Abating Environmental Harm: Am Overblown Promise, https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/issues/50/2/Topic/50-2_Vitiello.pdf

 

The Environmental Downside of Cannabis Cultivation, https://daily.jstor.org/the-environmental-downside-of-cannabis-cultivation/

 

Reporting Illegal Grows (CA Flyer), https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=184717&inline

Grow Lamp -Loving, Water-Sucking Marijuana Plants Aren’t So Green, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-05-09/marijuana-industry-seeks-to-lessen-its-environmental-impact

 

 

Writing in a New Year

Happy 2023!!

In case you haven't noticed, my writing has taken a bit of a dip lately. As I near the last five, or so, years of state government service before retirement, I start to feel like Bilbo when he remarked that he felt "...stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread." (I think I’ve been tired since the COVID deluge of work hit my state office.) If you are craving more fiction, you will probably have to wait a bit longer until I hit that "retire button." Meanwhile, I'll try to keep the sporadic content coming until retirement! Articles will still be coming every so often most likely. Strangely, I returned to college to improve my writing. Yet, after graduating in 2018, I feel less like writing anything than I ever did before. Probably a lesson there...

Truth and Lies (A Catholic's Perspective)

 It was 2003 when we learned the news that would uproot us once again from our church home. We had only just recently begun feeling like we belonged in the Episcopal Church.  After a great deal of church shopping around our area, we had hoped to be able to finally settle down.  It was the ordination of a practicing homosexual named Vicky Gene Robinson to the position of bishop within the Episcopal denomination that spiritually sent us reeling.  According to what we understood, Vicky Gene Robinson of New Hampshire set the tone of his new relationship with the abandonment of his wife Isabella and their child.  To me, it seemed like there was a clear disregard for Biblical truth there.

 

Having become somewhat accustomed over the preceding years to speaking our minds regarding issues with which we disagreed, my wife and I sent a letter of concern to the bishop of the Episcopal Churches of Western Oregon.  I remember mentioning the writings of Saint Paul in my correspondence, and, despite the issue making me sick to my stomach, I was careful to keep it courteous and respectful.  I may have also made a reference to C.S. Lewis’ essay “Fern Seed and the Elephants,” but I don’t recall for certain.  When the response arrived, the bishop’s assistant dismissed Pauline theology outright and took an unusually vitriolic tone with me.  It was abundantly clear that it was time to prepare for some more church shopping…all because of that thing called truth.

 

Because of the preceding example I chose, I should hasten to add that I am not selecting the sin of homosexuality for some kind of mortal sin extraordinaire, compared to which other sins pale in wrongdoing. I am also not espousing a view where we treat homosexuals with derision or rudeness; I have good friends who have chosen this lifestyle. It’s a common Christian teaching, however, that the teacher or leader within the faith needs to be exceedingly careful “because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” (James 3:1) That Episcopal bishop’s new role becomes a particularly public embrace of a watered-down and misunderstood version of the Bible, one where truth becomes subservient to warm feelings and “good will,” divorced from their underlying meaning. For more information, see paragraph 2357 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for a discussion of “Chastity and homosexuality.”

To a paraphrase one of my favorite Catholic authors, a good truth is hard to find.  In a similar way to how the Book of Wisdom describes its namesake, truth shares similar reflections of the divine.  It’s worth remembering that in Inferno, Dante saves the eighth circle of hell for fraudsters and liars.  Each is eternally sentenced to suffer in these pits within the inferno as punishment for their crimes against God and man.  These days, we might describe Truth like a tired refugee who is denied shelter again and again; no room at the inn.  The evidence of this is all around us.  We have politicians as well as elected officials who seem to lie with the same ease with which they breathe.  On the international stage, we see Russia deceiving her own people (not to mention our own) concerning the carnage being wrought upon the innocents of Ukraine.  We have the former Chief of Police for Uvalde Schools, Pete Arredondo, who appears to have done his best to shield the truth from the public’s eyes.  Then, speaking of a school shooting, there’s Alex Jones, who tormented parents who had lost their children so tragically.  And don’t forget the entertainment industry, Big Pharma, and, of course, Big Tech.  There are too many to name.  

If you have ever read Nicholas Carr or perhaps listened to his thought-provoking debate “Is Smart Technology Making Us Dumb” on Intelligence Squared Debates, you have been introduced to his idea that technology may be fundamentally changing the way our brains function.  We are more distracted than ever, and the contention is that our ability for deep thought is being eroded by these constant interruptions.  Like I have written elsewhere, there is also a sense in which social media itself pushes us apart as much as it brings some of us closer together.  As the Catechism of the Catholic Church so eloquently puts it, “The means of social communication (especially the mass media) can give rise to a certain passivity among users, making them less than vigilant consumers of what is said or shown. Users should practice moderation and discipline in their approach to the mass media. They will want to form enlightened and correct consciences the more easily to resist unwholesome influences.”

We are all familiar with classic dystopian literature like a Brave New World or 1984.  Many in our culture seem to have withdrawn with suspicion and scorn from mainstream news sources or dialogue upon current events.  They may identify all such reputable media as “fake news,” for instance.  They focus on highly questionable sources of information for their daily sources of news, and this leads to obvious problems of isolation.  While I’ve tried recently to reason with some of these individuals, the responses I receive are usually along the lines that the Ukraine war atrocities are faked, or that the videos have been re-purposed from previous conflicts.  The denial of reality is sadly reminiscent of cult members.  I can almost understand where this media cynicism grew from; we have all witnessed bias in broadcast and print news.  Their answer, however, is to embrace a lie, a particularly dangerous lie.  In an article entitled “Clarity of Vision,” which appeared on Catholic365 last year, I said of conspiracy theories that they “seem particularly sinful for the Christian, since it’s taking the worst of gossip and melding it with characteristics of false witness, then running one’s view of the world through this inherently defective (subjective) lens. We shouldn’t cling to information that is beyond our reasonable knowing. Matthew 7:5 comes to mind here.”

 

Novelists such as George Orwell have repeatedly warned readers of the prospect of state and media manipulation; it’s a valid concern.  The following passage from 1984 also touches on a vocabulary and language deterioration in a way that seems to echo some of Nicholas Carr’s thoughts as well. 

 

‘Even when you write it you’re still thinking in Oldspeak. I’ve read some of those pieces that you write in “The Times” occasionally. They’re good enough, but they’re translations. In your heart you’d prefer to stick to Oldspeak, with all its vagueness and its useless shades of meaning. You don’t grasp the beauty of the destruction of words. Do you know that Newspeak is the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year?’ Winston did know that, of course. He smiled, sympathetically he hoped, not trusting himself to speak. Syme bit off another fragment of the dark-coloured bread, chewed it briefly, and went on: ‘Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed, will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten. Already, in the Eleventh Edition, we’re not far from that point. But the process will still be continuing long after you and I are dead. Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller…

 

Orwell, George. 1984 (Deluxe Hardbound Edition) (pp. 58-59). SHJBOOX. Kindle Edition.

Some may be responding to that important warning, however, in an impulsive rather than thoughtful or reasoned way.  Technology and particularly social media are the perfect mediums with which to instantly share valuable news around the world.  While that’s a powerful good, one lie clothed within a half-truth can speed around our planet at the same hypersonic speed.  The only remedy against the lies swirling around us is to counter them with truth, full disclosure.  Of course, we can also convince ourselves of our own lies over weeks, months, or years.  Lies can also lead to pride over time.  When someone believes they are privy to information known only to a select few—e.g. those listening to a particular radio, television, or podcast episode—shared viewpoints between listeners can be acknowledged with a knowing wink or other subtle sign.  When we are imagining conspiratorial insights far beyond the ability of our direct knowledge, there may be a tendency to call those on the other side “sheep,” for instance.  C.S. Lewis addresses the nature of pride most eloquently in “A Case for Christianity.”

There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which everyone in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others. 

According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison. It was through pride that the Devil became the Devil: Pride leads to every other vice. It is the complete anti-God state of mind.

Of course, there are times when truth may not help one’s larger argument, may even jeopardize one’s job, but one still needs to share the necessary words of accountability.  While the stated objectives of the Russian Federation, for example, concerning the allegations of Nazism in Ukraine are ludicrous, it must be conceded that the Azov Special Operations Detachment, a right-wing militia, has served for some time.  We need not paint the Ukrainian government as pure as the new fallen snow to establish that what Russia is doing to the country is a reprehensible war crime.  The following passage concerning the nature of truth and lies is taken again from the section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church concerning bearing false witness.

2485 By its very nature, lying is to be condemned. It is a profanation of speech, whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others. The deliberate intention of leading a neighbor into error by saying things contrary to the truth constitutes a failure in justice and charity. The culpability is greater when the intention of deceiving entails the risk of deadly consequences for those who are led astray. 

2486 Since it violates the virtue of truthfulness, a lie does real violence to another. It affects his ability to know, which is a condition of every judgment and decision. It contains the seed of discord and all consequent evils. Lying is destructive of society; it undermines trust among men and tears apart the fabric of social relationships.

When we were faced with leaving the Episcopal Church over its ordination to bishop of a practicing homosexual, we were attempting to discern the truth or mission of an organization, but we are all called upon to make determinations on truth or veracity throughout each and every day of our lives.  How we arrive at our decisions, and how we communicate those decisions to others, can become terribly important.  Critical thinking techniques can help us discern the truth.  For a church, for instance, you might have many litmus tests that are required before you are truly at home.  While it is a little different for a Catholic, the Nicene Creed might still serve as an important anchoring point for a new parish.  For new religious traditions with which you may not be so familiar, issues such as homosexuality or abortion may shine a light for you on the overall legitimacy or truth of the denomination in question.  Are they in support of the Culture of Life or the Culture of Death?

 

Let’s change gears a bit and try approaching this issue of truth from an entirely different direction.  My wife and I were recently in Florence, Italy on a wonderful vacation. In Tuscany, one thing you must do is try a true Florentine Steak.  The locals will warn you, though, if your steak is under a pound and a half or not meeting other listed requirements, it is a fraud.  Calling a steak Florentine in Italy when it is not, is apparently quite a big deal. At any rate, the local advice is that a restaurant that misrepresents steaks as Florentine should not be considered trustworthy in anything else; they’ve forfeited the diners’ trust with their deception in this single area.  It’s entirely possible to apply a similar standard of trustworthiness and logic to both organizations and individuals. 

One thing in particular about conspiracy theories is that they usually read more like a story than real life.  If you’re familiar with the cliché pattern of urban legends and conspiracy theories, they become easier to pick out; you almost can start to smell them.  If you’re reading an account, and it sounds just too good to be true, try Googling a few lines of the account within quotes.  You can also use the “-“ sign to help fine-tune your search results.  This is a simple version of what is called a Boolean Search, and it can be particularly useful for spotting repurposed urban legends or conspiracy stories that have no root in truth. Sites like Snopes.com can also prove of some benefit.  Another suggestion when it comes to testing information’s veracity is careful review of its original source.   See, for instance, what others have written in the way of criticism of the particular account that has caught your eye.

In the fourth chapter of 1 John, we are urged to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God.”  A similar method can be employed to assess something’s reliability.  There are many tools available to discover the truth of a questionable assertion.  As a matter of fact, if you overhear a legal phrase such as neutralizing the credibility of the witness or false in one thing, false in everything, you are getting warmer; these techniques are already all around us.  Among the tools available to us, then, are direct examination of the assertion itself using critical methods previously highlighted, credibility review of the source—e.g. has the organization or individual taken positions in opposition to the Bible, Church teaching, or other tried and true standards—and finally seeking the input of others whom you trust.  Of course, your own skills at spotting deception should quickly improve as you make a more conscious effort to fact-check claims and not assume the information you are being given is correct.  If we all do this, committing to stop spreading misinformation, imagine the clearer world we could begin to create.  This allows us to focus more on the truly meaningful things.

If we distill all of this down to its essence, we see a need for renewed emphasis upon living truth in all that we say, do, and believe—whether in-person or in the anonymous world of online communications.  If lies, half-truths, fabrications, and exaggerations are coming at us all day long, requiring us to mentally filter the content, our duty as Catholics should be to stand for truth in word and deed.  People should know that we are different, that we can be trusted.  This kind of adult accountability is sorely lacking in today’s world.  As Saint Augustine wrote in On Choice and Free Will, “If there is something more excellent than the truth, then that is God; if not, then Truth itself is God.”  If people see calm reason and truth reflected in our lives and hearts, perhaps it will point them in the direction of divine Truth.  “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.”  In embracing this one at the door called Truth, we may jeopardize relationships, damage connections with political parties, and lose friends, but we will gain something so much more real, substantive, and eternal in return: Truth.

 

This article is adapted from Catholic365.