more light #291
Truth
by Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer
Grand Lodge of A. F. & A. M. of Minnesota
Dear Masonic Student,
I receive and enjoy receiving Lodge newsletters – one I always look
forward to is the newsletter from Albert Pike Lodge #237 in Hopkins, MN; the
first item I read in it is Dr. and Brother Stan Shapiro’s column. Brother Stan
is a great guy and a great L.E.O. I’m sure you will enjoy reading one of his
columns. – Ed
By Stanley Shapiro, Lodge Education Officer
TRUTH
In our society 1 believe we see too many examples of a subtle indifference
to the truth and or actual deceit and misrepresentation.
As Masons we seek the truth and are admonished to tell the truth. In
December at our Lodge we started a discussion of truth.
In order to discuss truth we need to distinguish between truth and fact. In
December I held up the book, A Time to Remember, by Stanley Shapiro and asked
you what you would conclude. One brother said I must be a good writer. However,
I was not the author. Facts are observable and objective. Truth is based on what
an individual believes. What facts a person observes are important in his
conclusion of what is true. However, an individual’s interpretation of the
facts depends on his point of view and what facts he considers important.
Therefore a given individual’s judgment about what is true can depend on any
one or all of several things including the reported facts, what he believes is
true, the social pressures or customs that may influence his decision, his past
experiences, his philosophy and his goals. Sometimes we make judgments about
what is true only on the basis of our feelings. However, feelings like mistaken
beliefs, ignorance and arrogance can result in false conclusions about what is
true.
We strive to gain facts to ascertain what we believe is true. Yet we do not
always use what we believe is true rationally. For example we observe in cars
the higher the speed the greater the chance of accidents or death and although
we believe this is true, we drive at a higher speed to save time. We believe the
scientific facts about what is healthy to eat are true and yet we ignore them.
I ask you to think about what makes truth important and what is the reason to
care about truth?
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