The Truth Isn't In The Middle

The Truth Isn’t In The Middle

John Paul Derryberry

In 3rd grade, I tried to pull a big lie over on my dad. As you guessed, my plan failed miserably. Like, one or two questions posed by my father and my house of cards came crumbling down. I spent the summer getting lectures about the importance of Truth. How lies need so much effort, thought process, and assistance to stay in the conversation. All the Truth requires, to remain in the discussion, is someone brave enough to utter factual statements. Since then, lies have gotten a big boost in the form of the internet echo chambers where most of us find ourselves.

A crazy phenomenon, that picked up speed at a pace no human can keep up with, occurred over the years. With its many dark alleys, the internet has found a way to assist lies long enough for them to take over the Truth. Over the last two weeks, there has been a bombardment of calls stating that the Truth lies somewhere between the left and right parts of the political spectrum. There is this mythical idea that we must meet in the middle about facts. This is not how Truth and facts work. The Truth about events just is. There is little to no evidence of voter fraud. Yet we heard it long enough and loud enough that we got a version where millions of people believe there was.

The lies we spin don't fall apart as quickly as they should anymore because the internet's gale-force winds won't stop blowing. There is no middle here; there is a fact, a singular truth. Trump lost the election because more people voted for Biden. There are other truths we cannot deny. Before the pandemic, the economy was as healthy as ever. Who that was benefiting can be debated, but we shouldn't deny that Truth even if we didn't like the policies put in place by the Republican congress and administration. We must always acknowledge the facts and work our hardest to combat lies.

There are debates to be had about numerous topics. There are gray areas about what's best for all involved. We can find common ground and we can create unity in the widening gap in political ideology. BUT the Truth will never lie in the middle of that gap. The Truth isn't negotiable; it doesn't care about your religious preferences; it doesn't care about your emotions.  It never examines anyone's monetary value and it certainly doesn't care about who wins and loses. Despite what our leaders tell you or you lie to yourself about, a lie is a lie no matter how you spin it, a house of cards waiting to crumble.

If you support Trump and Republicans, you support kids in cages, shady deals, lying to the American people about the pandemic, and much other good and bad stuff. That's the Truth; you will have to square that one day. If you support Biden and Democrats, you support job canceling measures, more extensive government intrusion in our lives, brow-beating lectures to the American people, and much other good and bad stuff. That's the Truth! But we continue to get lost in the sea of lies we are fed and feed others; one day the big Truth will land on us all--  that we screwed this up for future generations because we thought we could propel lies into Truth, and the facts don't work that way. TRUTH will always stand the test of time, nowhere near the middle of anything.