So, I caught myself pondering earlier, and the subject being faithfulness. or rather, perceived faithfulness. We're taught all our lives that certain things are true and faithful. Hot dogs contain no actual meat. America leads the free world. Alaska is cold. The Sahara is big. Tariffs only half-protect domestic production but hurt the overall economy in the long run. These are all things we are expected to believe, and for the most part, are generally true.
But, what about truths we're taught that turn out not to be true? What about things we've been taught are lies that end up closer to true than we'd like to believe? I'm not talking about beliefs that can be re-defined based on personal experience. (It's well-established rumor that Catholic school makes for angry dissidents etc. Maynard?) But I'm talking about big things, that society as a whole would shudder at. For instance, what if evolution is false? I know that Christians everywhere disagree with evolution and that it is an incredibly contentious arena where religion is concerned, but society as a whole has learned to disregard them (religious peoples) and move on. Literature accepts it as fact. Science accepts it as fact. Politics accepts it, unless it can be fomented into an argument that will extend their influence or term period. What if, in say, 15 years, evolution is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, with reason, rational thinking, and logic, to be utterly false. How would society move on? How could everyone cope? We couldn't. What happens when the lie is so big it could stop the world from spinning...duh duh duh.
I'm not trying to pick on evolution but for an obvious and easy example. It just makes me wonder what we all believe, regardless of creed and color, that is a lie. What history may look back on, and say "How were they so deceived? What simpletons." What if everything we know is a lie? cliche argument yes, and while being a conspiracy nut is fun, it's hardly productive (discourages long term relationships, for the record). I'm not trying to make a point, just wondering aloud in binary, what's a lie? what's truth? what if the homeless are the real winners? what if...? hmmmm.
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i feel like we are lied to our entire life. how often do you lie to a child and tell them that good always wins and everything will be alright and 'they lived happily ever after' and all that shit. we teach kids to share and that selfishness is bad, but we contribute to a world where the wealthy rule and greed drives everything the country we live in exists for.
we are not told of injustice, the blatant prostitution of poorer nations to feed our consumerist needs and other evils we all contribute to in some way. and for those of us that open our eyes and our minds just a little, the world we were told existed fades away and we are angry and lost because everything we were taught has been a lie. but for a moment in our life we lived that lie and it was our truth. some people will accept that they lived a lie, and they will be angry and hurt, others prefer the lies. the lies are safe and familiar. the lies are all they know.
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