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George Orwell and the truth

 

August 3 2012

"The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world" -- George Orwell

One thing I find very disgusting about today's politics is how easily truth is being replaced with a lie.

Liberal ideas have merit. Conservative ideas have merit. It is, however, neither liberal or conservative, but instead fascism when people refuse to believe established science like Evolution and the Greenhouse Effect. It is fascism when "file sharers" believe it is economically viable for a business to make money when no one is paying for the product the business creates.

It is fascism to be a Christian, read the Bible and believe Jesus' message was to hate the homosexual instead of loving your neighbor, as written in Luke 10:27. It does not bode well for Christianity that its members (which I am one) are not doing more for gay rights, the way previous generations of Christians have spearheaded increased literacy, the abolition of slavery, and civil rights.

It is true the fascism of the 20th century was by and large secular. It is also true that fundamentalism -- which is any religious belief system that discourages questioning the "absolute truths" of its dogma and shun people for having different belief systems -- does result in fascism. Examples include the oppression of science in Christian Europe in the middle ages, the inquisitions, and today's oppression in the Islamic middle east.

Hate and lies are the forces that drive fascist regimes. It is love and seeking the truth that counteracts the forces of fascism.

Orwell's quote comes from Looking back on the Spanish War. To post a comment about an entry, send me an email and I may or may not post your comment (with or without editing)