July 29, 2020 by Jermaine E. Martin
“The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end there it is.”
-Winston Churchill
The Pastor at my church, Dale O’Shields, once said during a sermon on truth -“Live for what lasts.” Truth is the one thing on this earth that truly lasts. Living for it is living for knowledge and living for greatness. There are many things in this world that change with the times -“truth” is not one of them. As the world around us changes ever so rapidly and information is more accessible than ever before, you would think that “truth” would ring out louder than ever before. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. In fact, in this smartphone, 24-hour news cycle world, as “information” becomes more and more abundant, it becomes easier and easier to become distracted, deceived, misguided, and misinformed. The first step in preventing the possibility of being distracted or misguided is to first acknowledge that there is a big distinction between information and truth. Anyone or anything can crank out information, but the value of that information is determined by whether or not it is grounded in facts and truth.
As a society that once relied on the news media to serve as a check to our political leaders and those in power, we now find ourselves being “informed” by those who put political and self-interests above the country itself. To add fuel to this fire, the political arena in our country is becoming more and more ideological and combative in nature. Substantive issues facing our country are being ignored while trivial and selfish matters dominate the headlines. Trying to decipher what gets reported in the news can be frustrating for those of us who just want to be told the simple truth so that we can decide what’s best for the country. There is a popular quote that says: “Better to be slapped with the truth than kissed with a lie.” If we ever intend to be all we can be, both as individuals and as a country, these are wise words to live by.
In today’s world, unfortunately, voices of truth and empowerment are increasingly getting drowned out by all of the politically correct noise being pumped out across the media and entertainment spectrum. The saddest part about this situation is that it is the weakest in society that gets hurt the most. Information without truth at its core does not empower and does not encourage growth. Although, it may be easy to blame the media for the downward trend in our country, there are others forces at work as well. We as a nation are straying more and more away from the very principles that made us a great nation in the first place. The beauty and benefits of freedom, self-reliance, hard work, and personal responsibility are unfortunately down-played by many in today’s political and “wanna-be” elite class. In the real world, these ideals and principles matter. Truth matters.
Jermaine E. Martin is an empowerment leader, speaker and author of “American Mindset: Unstuck & Unstoppable” (Amazon), out now.