Can We Handle "The Truth"?

Or maybe it should be truth with a small ‘t’ like democrat with a small ‘d’ to reflect a more subtle, organic, or personal position. Because, *truth* is – let’s face it – hard to find these days, even hard to de-fine (as in Stephen Colbert’s term “truthiness”) or the ‘based on a true story’ story written by James Frey.

Truth can be: elusive, shifty, open to interpretation, individualized, dependent on circumstances or point of view. Memory comes into play. Plus experience and emotion. We relate to things based on our own worldview and with our own unique filter(s). We can’t help it. Think of going to a movie with people you know and each coming out with a different impression or opinion. Same with ‘real’ life.

I thought about truth this week as I watched the State of the Union; as I talked with my mother and my husband; as I heard how Oprah felt “duped”; as I consider what to divulge in my job search; as I read articles (2 listed below). It’s an interesting and complex subject, to be sure.

The first article was about the mass arrests in Chicago on March 19, 2003, at the start of the Iraq war. Thousands marched on Lake Shore Drive; hundreds were detained and arrested. My uncle’s story of that night’s events was recently posted at “ChicagoFreeSpeechZone.” I read it with interest, though not in complete agreement as to the sequence or details, even though I was at the event with same uncle! His recollection of that crazy evening can be found here*:

http://www.chicagofreespeechzone.com/html/the_tale_of_the_upside-down_fl.html

*There’s a photo of Uncle Scott with his flag next to a CTA bus full of peace signs, which includes my then pony-tailed husband, my aunt and myself. It appeared on the Chicago Tribune’s website, though I didn’t see it in the paper. There’s a good shot of MANY marchers on Lake Shore Drive here: http://www.chicagofreespeechzone.com/

I saw another article on truthout.org by Cindy Sheehan. It was also about being arrested. She shares HER version of her arrest at the State of the Union; it doesn’t exactly coincide with the media’s version: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020106Z.shtml

Sometimes, the basic facts of a story are clear, and we can point and say “that is true.” Much of the time, it is not so clear-cut or simple, as stories get spun out of control, out of context, or out of proportion, intentionally or not. It happens all the time, like the telephone game you may have played as a kid. Even if people try to tell the truth, it often gets distorted down the line.

I guess what I’m saying is we may be able to ‘handle’ the truth, if we could get our hands on it! It’s a worthy goal, and a full-time job. So, let’s get to work!