Perception winning out over the truth

Phil Cobb Glasses

I’m feeling a little bit discouraged.

Maybe you can help.

It seems the truth no longer has much of a place in our society.

Perception has taken its place.

Actually, perception is kicking the truth’s ass pretty severely.

The difference between the two is that the truth is, well, the truth. Nothing more, nothing less.

Perception is what we believe the truth to be, whether right or wrong.

Here’s a very minor example of what I’m talking about, but I hope it makes you want to keep reading:

I received a letter to the editor from a man in St. Charles, Missouri (other side of the state) shortly after the Maryville football team’s 92-8 victory over the Cameron Dragons.

The man was incensed that Maryville’s coach had “run the score up” in an attempt to humiliate his opponent.

That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Coach Matt Webb and his staff did not “run the score up” to 92.

From what I could tell from eye-witnesses at the scene, was the Spoofhound coaching staff did everything it could to keep from scoring 192.

Obviously, the outcome of a football game pales in comparison to finding the truth about an alleged sexual assault, or perceived bias of law enforcement toward the black community, or who we should vote for in November.

But the same principles apply.

I tend to think that perception should be developed through the pursuit of the truth.

The truth, however, can be illusive, and unfortunately we won’t always find it. But we can, at the very least, try.

As fellow columnist Kaity Holtman always says, “They’re not even trying.”

There are so many things that shape our perception, things that I believe should determine our understanding.

No. 1 should be faith.

What, and how, you believe should guide you in the development of your viewpoint.

If you believe in God, and you believe in everlasting life through Jesus Christ, then many things become clear. The Bible is an excellent guidebook. I have found that praying for understanding is an excellent way to find the truth.

In no apparent order, I believe that family, birthplace, life experiences, and which generation we belong to, could and should mold our thought processes.

But with all that said, the most important element of our perception should be truth.

Now, don’t confuse perception with perspective.

Perspective is our viewpoint, or our position from which we are viewing whatever conflict from which we might be trying to extract said truth.

As mentioned above, perspective can and should shape our perception, but it should not absolutely determine it.

And I think that’s what’s happening in our society right now.

We like to put labels on everyone and then determine how they should think by what flag they are flying.

If you’re a Republican, you should think and make decisions one way.

If you’re a Democrat, you should do it the other way.

Christian, liberal, conservative, gay, straight, employed, unemployed — all labels that unfortunately help society determine which pot we should be thrown into.

Yes … even, black, white, brown, red, and yellow.

Our race certainly is a determining factor in how we view the world.

But it should not be the only factor. The truth must play the leading role.

The advent of social media has certainly contributed to this unfortunate phenomenon, but it can’t be blamed.

Human nature — man’s sinful nature — is certainly to blame.

As Kaity alluded to earlier in the week, social media just makes it too easy to find someone who flies the same flag as you.

Instead of taking the time to research and discover the truth, we just latch onto a post that appears — at least on the surface — to represent our position.

Come on, man. Aren’t we better than that?

We must start thinking for ourselves and stop chasing after the latest buzzwords, talking points, trends, movements — stop all the mindless political correctness — and let the truth be our guide.

If you are putting your faith in anything that is rooted in this world, stop.

No political candidate, no talking head, no earthly social movement will ever lead you to the truth.

So let’s start trying a little harder, and let’s stop letting other people think for us.

The good news is *spoiler alert* although it will cross the finish line battered and bruised, the truth wins in the end.