The 1992 movie “Few Good Men” gave us the iconic line “You can’t handle the truth!” Uttered by Jack Nicholson’s character Col. Nathan R. Jessup, the movie’s central theme is the trial of two U.S. Marines accused of killing a fellow Marine. The amount of work and drama outside as well as inside the courtroom as the movie’s overall plot unfolds all leads up to the reason for Col. Jessup’s shouting that line while on the witness stand. (If there is actually anyone who hasn’t seen this yet, I’d really recommend it.)
Okay, so I started this month’s installment with a short review of an almost 30-year-old movie. Stay with me here, there’s a reason for this.
It’s becoming increasingly difficult for conservatives to discuss “truth”. The meaning of “truth” is being changed at warp speed almost daily, practically right out of Orwell’s “1984”. It’s also becoming increasingly obvious that what matters most is not what “truth” is, but rather who gets to provide “truth” to the rest of us.
Liberals have long practiced a form of the philosophy of Relativism, most probably without even being aware they’re doing so. Without going into a lengthy philosophical dissertation, relativism means “the doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute.” (from Oxford Languages). In other words, this is a completely subjective way of saying “truth is what we need it to be at any given moment, because of the daily narrative.”
Those few of you out there who actually read my musings will remember that I’m a firm believer in learning how to understand and use the concept of empiricism in order to discern what’s going on. Now is a very good time to sharpen that skill. (Again, due to space limitations, if you’re not familiar with that term, take the time to look up empirical wisdom and/or knowledge. It’s going to become a useful tool to help everyone navigate liberalism.)
There are so many examples of denying truth and the consequences thereof that it’s hard to even find a starting point for a decent reference. But, let’s try this.
Calling someone who is a perpetual optimist a “Pollyanna” is an unfamiliar term to most contemporary readers. Pollyanna is the main character in the 1913 book of the same name by Eleanor Porter. Pollyanna was an 11-year-old girl with a perpetually sunny disposition who always looked on the good side of everything, no matter what the circumstance was. To be a “Pollyanna” is to be someone who is unfailingly optimistic and has even become known as The Psychology of Positivity Bias. A very early version of “you can’t handle the truth”.
On a personal level, I’ve experienced something similar to this from a former band member I toured with. This particular individual was one of the many drummers I worked with while in Petra. He had been involved in a ministry that preached a doctrine called Negative Confession. Basically, this means that as a Christian you are not to ever say anything negative concerning anything, because by doing so you are opening the door to Satan. Sort of a Christian version of the aforementioned Pollyanna. (Why does the weirdness always come from the drummer?…anyway…)
There is a specific Biblical refutation to this type of thinking. In both Matthew 16:20-23 and Mark 8:30-33, there is the story of Jesus speaking to His disciples before going to Jerusalem during what was to be the last week of His earthly life. He tells them very bluntly that He would suffer and die. Peter wasn’t having it and told the Lord they would not allow that to happen. Jesus rebuked this statement, but He did so not by calling out Peter by name but instead addressed Satan specifically.
This is such an amazing portion of scripture because it shows, from the words of Christ Himself, that quite often the warm, fuzzy, happy-happy, feel-good things we want to hear are not of God but rather come from Satan. The point here is that understanding who God is enables you to see what reality is….even when it’s bad. The enemy, of course, does not want you to face or even understand what reality truly is. The enemy wants you to be positive, happy, and basically unaware. In other words, the quintessential “useful idiot”.
Just a few further references relating to this are: Job 5:7, John 16:33, and the entirety of 1st Samuel Chap. 17, the David and Goliath account. I’ve included the David and Goliath story because it shows how facing the negative head-on can be turned to victory.
Here’s just a short list of some of the “truths” conservatives understand, but the liberals/progressives/socialists/whatever-it-is-this-weekers think we can’t handle:
- The election was stolen.
- Joe Biden is the true illegitimate President and is not really in charge.
- Not all Republicans are truly conservative.
- There is a real crisis at what used to be our southern border.
- Lockdowns and masks are totally unnecessary and completely useless in fighting a virus that affects only a small portion of the population and has a 90% plus survival rate for all age groups.
That’s just five small nuggets of truth that we’ve known for some time. When liberals talk about truth, they’re lying. It’s all about control. When they mention democracy, it’s about them being in control. When you hear the word insurrection, it’s somehow never applied to BLM or Antifa. I could go on and on, but if you’re reading this, then you’re obviously conservative and you understand what we’re facing. And a very hard truth we’re facing is this: as the summer approaches, we’re either going to have the beginnings of an actual shooting war in our cities, or we begin the process of splitting the country. Either way, those are hard truths we all need to empirically understand. Liberals, and unfortunately even some Christians, do not want to admit that there is evil in this world.
…More Shameless Self-promotion…
For the last several months, I’ve been mentioning my upcoming album release. Well, “Salt 2: Trophy Hunting For Unicorns” is finally here. Along with myself and the cast of usual suspects from the last project, vocals are again by Petra’s John Schlitt, with some great guitar work by another former Petra member, Greg Hough. Shawn Browning, who is the owner/operator/alpha dog of Rottweiler Records, also makes a vocal contribution. However, while it’s not really a problem, I have to tell you that physical CDs are not yet available. Once again, due to the Wuhan Flu, the duplicating plant my record label uses is months behind schedule. The project can be acquired through all major digital music outlets. If that’s the way you like to obtain your music, you’re in luck.
I have also renamed my Facebook music page. In order to reflect the proper artist name of the new project, my page is now called John DeGroff & Friends, but can still be found at the same link. We have also started a merchandise page that will feature the new CD when available, along with some other projects I’ve played on throughout the years. There are also T-shirts available, and one really unique Petra-related item. Please check out John DeGroff & Friends merch.
Also, please feel free to check out Rottweiler Records on Facebook. Thanks in advance for your support.
