In his otherwise excellent article “What Is Truth?” Australian Bishop Les Tomlinson includes this paragraph:

‘The corrosion of truth in these strange times is terrifying,’ wrote journalist and author, Richard Franklin, late last year. ‘And when Donald Trump lies, when Vladimir Putin lies, when corporations and power lie about climate change, about refugees, about our world, it is not simply that they are lying about a particular issue. It is that they are saying the truth is of no consequence. And it is this corrosion of the very idea of truth that is so terrifying.’

Even a casual reader will note the fallacy in this argument. Franklin’s examples—policy preferences regarding climate change and refugees—are not established truths. As he himself writes, they are disputed questions. He falsely associates his political beliefs with truth per se.

In another online article with the same title, Fr. Vincent Serpa’s answer to a reader asking about the meaning of truth includes this thought: “I suppose the most basic definition of truth would be: the conformity of the intellect with what the thing perceived actually is.”

In Fr. Serpa’s simple equation, the union of the mind, perception, and reality equals truth. When a “thing perceived” does not connect with “what actually is,” when elected officials, experts, and members of the media demand we believe one thing and our eyes tell us another, as has happened so often in recent years, confusion, lies, and disorder are the results.

In July of this year, for example, the American public witnessed then-presidential candidate Donald Trump being shot and wounded during an assassination attempt. Yet here we are more than six months later, and the public still knows very little about the assassin, his motivation, or any assistance he received. We have no idea what the thing perceived actually was. 

Another case in point: In late August 2021, the Biden administration abruptly withdrew American forces from Afghanistan and declared the operation a success. The reality was that 13 U.S. service personnel were needlessly killed and over $7 billion of our equipment and weapons were left in the hands of the Taliban. Once again, truth was lost in the gulf between the official declaration of victory and the obvious horror of our defeat.

COVID offers many examples of this yawning canyon between imposed perceptions and insistent reality. Officials who explained the origins of the epidemic and effective countermeasures—the masks, the social distancing, the lockdowns, the vaccine itself—often abused the truth, while the doctors and scientists who offered contrary takes on prevention and cures were forbidden from making their cases to the public. Perception once again eclipsed reality, leaving millions to conform their intellects around falsehoods.

A final example, one among many others: For years now, certain academics, psychologists, and physicians, with the blessings of the federal government, have insisted that by means of chemicals and surgery men can become women, and vice-versa. Those who expressed doubts about the wisdom and efficacy of these transformations were accused of bigotry and hatred, and often silenced. Here in full dress was “conformity of the intellect with the thing perceived,” and reality be damned.

And on it goes.

Or will it?

In a Substack article posted just three days before the inauguration, commentator Glenn Reynolds noted that this tide was turning:

Donald Trump isn’t even president yet and we’re seeing all sorts of changes. Wikipedia is suddenly starting to police its biased editors. The FBI has abolished its DEI office. States and universities are abolishing theirs. Illegal immigrants are already starting to self-deport. Transgender mania is receding.

Even in small ways we’re feeling the impact.

It’s like a spell has broken around the world. As I’ve noted before, it’s a preference cascade. Through nonstop lying, gaslighting, and bullying, various left groups have for decades forced people to believe – or, more accurately, to pretend to believe – in all sorts of crazy stuff.

These changes give us reasons for optimism. Many Americans are surely hopeful that Trump, his cabinet members, and even Congress will speak and stand for truth rather than engage in the lies and long, unexplained silences that marked not only the Biden administration, but which for so long have been practiced by other politicians and bureaucrats.

To level with the American people will be difficult in the months ahead. Putting the economy back together, securing the border, deporting those who are here illegally, and addressing all the other problems that plague our republic will take months, if not years. Yet if the federal government desires the cooperation of the American people in these efforts, it should begin by regaining our trust, treating us with respect and fessing up when something goes wrong or isn’t working as planned. Only then can our country truly thrive.

The liberty that brings prosperity walks hand in hand with truth. As a certain teacher and Lord put it so long ago, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”