Telling Ourselves the Truth

But first we must tell ourselves the truth.

Francis Schaffer said most people would rather defend their prejudices than seek what is really true. Many of us don’t have self-concept enough to give the other side an even shake. People with a small or damaged self-concept are more likely to define themselves by their political party, and less likely to consider the possibility that the other side might be right. As Stephen Covey put it, “They don’t own enough of themselves.” We fear being proved wrong. We no longer discuss issues; we no longer debate policy. Now we conduct verbal combat as though our lives depend on it, slashing our opponents as they slash at us, neither one even hearing what the other is saying. Being proved wrong would damage our fragile psyches like a physical wound. So we block out the possibility that we could be wrong. And we hate our opponents. As Glenn Beck has said, “We’re eating each other.” We’ve become a nation of political cannibals, blaming the other party for every problem from the national debt to peanut allergies.

Our success or failure as a nation will be a reflection of how closely our decisions and behaviors are aligned with reality. We will not accurately discern reality if we are knotted up in our own biases and prejudgments. We must figure out what reality actually is, what we’re up against, what facts we must accommodate, what rules we must heed and operate inside of. Then we must admit the truth about what we find, no matter what that truth turns out to be.

“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” — Jesus