In his seminal work on the subject, University of Virginia professor Dr. James Davison Hunter describes culture war dialogue as each side of an argument trying to demonize and then dismiss as irrelevant the other side’s ideas.[1] In my observations, each side of the cultural divide generally keeps his cards close to his chest, playing them only when it’s advantageous to his position. This will not be the case with me. Like the University of Virginia’s Mr. Jefferson, I believe that truth needs no defense from me. The truth can stand on its own.[2]
I write about the culture war not because I want to but because I’m compelled. This will be a calling, not a joy. Perhaps you are so convinced about your version of or definition for “the truth” that you will, at some point herein, dislike what you’re reading. At the risk of understating this a bit, writing something that immediately ruffles everyone’s feathers will not warm me to everyone. I can’t worry about that now. The truth demands that I write, and I am a slave to the truth.
We tend to get comfortable with truth “structures” we place around ourselves. In the unstable, unreliable existence that is the world we see on television or read in our newspaper, we are naturally inclined to hold on to those truths about which we can do something. We drive a particular brand of car or live in a certain way whether in a custom home with acreage or a subdivision where all the houses look alike. We made those choices because we could either rationalize them or understand why we were settling for something less than what we really wanted. They were truths we could fashion and place around us, or at least understand their context in our lives.
The income we receive from our jobs is a certain truth and the power we wield with that money is a certain truth and the extent to which we are slaves to money means that, in a sense, we are slaves to truth. In a secular context, no one advertises or talks about how much money they make or how much was their end of year bonus but they may live in certain opulence, drive an expensive automobile, or receive gratification in their philanthropy. If you’re a Christian conservative, perhaps that’s why Christ spoke so much in the scriptures about the trappings of money. Still, money is one truth with which we can all identify. To some extent, we can do something about our incomes. We can get another job, go back to school, or learn to live without some of the trappings of money. But, there are other truths out there about which we can do nothing.
While we want the military to bring a swift end to our enemies and the police to protect us from criminals, we know we can’t spend our way into avoiding bad things happening to us. And then, there’s that “big number one” uncomfortable truth that we know is out there—death—and we really tend to compartmentalize that construct. I always thought that one reason why television shows about death and dying are so popular is because we need help coming to grips with the reality that our natural existence will eventually come to an end. This most inconvenient of truths is more than reality—it is absolute truth. Death is what the meaning of “is” is. People don’t and can’t run from the truth of death—only its reality.
This truth definition, then, is where you and I may diverge. For me, truth is that which allows me to cooperate with reality and tap into its power.[3] But if truth holds no absolute meaning for you and you do not wish to cooperate with reality on occasion, then you are not a slave to truth but rather a slave to shaping your reality. In fact, when you make truth subservient to reality, you assume complete responsibility for shaping your own reality, which is something I’d never want. For some people, being completely responsible for their own reality may make them momentarily comfortable, but ultimately their reality will enslave them. To shape their reality, they are constantly in an extended process of change to postpone the inevitable absolute. You will either be a slave to truth or to reality. You either deal with truth or the truth will deal with you.
This, finally, is where culture war flares and becomes part of the national ethos. Truth is not the first casualty in culture war. Defining truth for the culture is the prize. If those who do not cooperate with reality define truth for the culture, then the culture fades into an amorphous state. In such a culture, I still may be able to pursue truth and cooperate with its reality, but my ability to tap into its power would likely be limited by a dominant culture trying to weaken truth to those times only when it’s convenient or useful for the dominant majority.
For me, there is a power in cooperating with the inevitable that allows me to pursue truth itself. If reality is all I live for, then all I live for has a natural end and I am literally hope-less. But, if I pursue truth and, for the finite amount of time I spend on this planet, cooperate with reality and tap into its power, then at the time of my death I have hope. As I die—at the moment of my death—I am still pursuing truth. Others at that moment approach the reality of death realizing their pursuits are, simply, over. Where, then, will be the power in your life? In the end, Jefferson was right. Truth needs no defense—it can stand on its own.
There is a certain power in living life as if death is a part of living. Moving from the reality we can see into God’s wider heavenly reality is what awaits those who believe in Jesus Christ. While I respect death, I do not fear dying. This is the stuff of hope. Many of us who are absolutists in this current culture war are “fighting” for the unalienable right of the pursuit of happiness, which in our view includes our hope for the future.
Do not take away my hope, dear relativist, by your concept of reality however amorphous it may be. Do not take away my hope, dear relativist, by your inability to live with absolutes. I am not the author of death. You need to take your issues with absolute truth to a higher power. Perhaps then, like me, you’ll find some power in your own life. Deal with the Truth before the truth deals with you.
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[1] You will find reference to Hunter’s Culture Wars: Defining the Struggle for America throughout this entire website.
[2] From Scraps Early in the Revolution: “Truth will do well enough if left to shift for herself,” he wrote. “She seldom has received much aid from the power of great men to whom she is rarely known & seldom welcome. She has no need of force to procure entrance into the minds of men.”
[3] Thanks to J.P. Moreland.