What’s really true?

By Mark Salley | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

It’s not uncommon to hear someone say “live your truth” or “that’s my truth.”

But, is their “truth” really true?

The bible doesn’t teach — nor does common sense allow — that everyone can have and live by their own truth. Yet, many seem to have fallen into that pit.

If someone’s “truth” tells them it’s okay to drink and to drive drunk…is it really true?  Of course not.

If someone’s “truth” tells them a biological boy can transition to become a girl…is it really true? Again…of course not.

In the past (sadly still today) many people have been captured by believing false things to be true. 

What’s the harm in believing things that aren’t true, yet pretending they are?  For starters, just consider the case about drunk-driving. The false truth (it’s okay to get drunk and drive) has killed countless thousands of people.

And what often is worse than an individual believing and acting on something that isn’t true…is a government agency believing and acting on something that isn’t true.

Oftentimes…we just call it what it is: fraud and corruption.

It might have been some bureaucrats’ belief (their so-called truth) that nothing was wrong with continuing to funnel taxpayers’ money to non-existent daycare centers in Minnesota (or any state). But clearly, a system that looks the other way on fraud…is a failed system. And many other bureaucrats might have believed nothing was wrong with wasting billions of dollars on Medicare/Medicaid fraud. 

In the case of the drunk driver…the guilty man or woman is found out by their crashed automobile or truck, or by the cop who pulls them over as they weave drunkenly down the highway. Those drunk drivers are found out and brought before the courts for the consequences of having “lived their truth” (that it’s okay to drive drunk). It’s not. Never was. Never will be.

Sadly, a sobriety test won’t identify the many, many bureaucrats in both state and federal government positions who need their “driving” privileges taken away — permanently — for frauds and corruption perpetrated on citizens.

What the Trump administration has been doing in the past year is exposing false truths that had been forced on the American public, by elected leaders and un-elected administrators — who were “living their own truth.”  

The consequences for Americans have included:

—Higher costs of energy by putting faith in the lie that renewable energy is just as reliable and affordable as clean coal and natural gas.

—Girls and young women being denied their victories (and their dignity) by men who pretended to be women and freely roamed their locker rooms.

—Countless millions of children killed in the womb by those who denied the truth of a child’s right-to-life.

When will this change?  Will there be revival of truth in America and worldwide?  

The Trump administration has been shining the “light of truth” on many of the dark places in government and in society. May each member of this administration have wisdom and courage to continue this work.

Let the truth shine!

Mark Salley served as deputy press secretary to former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens during the final 18 months of his second term. His background includes media relations work with Xcel Energy and serving as editor of the former Front Range Journal in Idaho Springs. In 2000, he was selected as a Colorado Voices columnist for the Denver Post.

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.