Meditating on the Rosary, one is struck by a reality that on Good Friday, Jesus was not the only one who was naked. Indeed, He was stripped, tied to a pillar, and scourged. We may fail to notice that the soldiers too were naked in their aggression. They let loose all their pent-up authoritarian power and rained it upon Jesus. Think of those low-ranking gaol guards who have no qualms venting their frustration on defenceless prisoners.
History is littered with countless expressions of violence in which power is exercised unchecked by civilised or enlightened rules of engagement. A modern equivalent of this phenomenon of untrammelled power is cancel culture.[1] When it is tied to the powers-that-be, you can imagine how powerful it is in the way “truth” can be shaped or reshaped. For example, the notion of “public health experts” and their ubiquitous presence. Who are they? We do rely on them because they are informed resources for dealing with a virulent pandemic.[2]
Which would give you a greater sense of freedom or confidence?
Scenario 1.
Reminder after reminder that going out might be your last foray or frolic. That there so many fatalities. Anything you touch can be your death. Anyone you touch can be their demise. Finally, if you do not submit to the vaccine you will not be able to travel? You are liable to die.
Or scenario 2.
That the death count arising from Covid-19’s infection is slightly higher than normal. It affects mostly those who have pre-existing conditions. Most who have Covid will recover. Ordinary precautions should include a conscious cleanliness that is not obsessive.
Which one of these two scenarios is easier to the ears, do you think?
See, today we do not only have the “gomen” to deal with, especially authoritarian or tyrannical governments. We also have big techs. Our search engines do not only search but they also direct our searches to the answers which suit them. Coupled with cancel culture, you can imagine how much more power can governments have when they can co-opt the powers of the tech titans?
Picture Jesus standing before Pilate. He was not just a governor. In fact, he was a potentate of Rome and he interrogated Jesus on what truth is. Now, imagine this same Jesus standing before a government of today, one that has the backing of the big techs’ clout of surveillance and supported by cancel culture, can you figure what chance Jesus has on the Truth of who He is. Pilate with his Roman might was a mere kitten compared to the rule of the techno-oligarchs who are dominant enough to censor, silence and finally cancel even the most powerful man in the world--the POTUS.
There is a saying that “A lie told many times over becomes the ‘truth’”. As Mark Twain reminds us that “History is strewn thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill, but a lie, well told, is immortal”.[3] The phenomenon of “fake news” is actually facilitated by the "viral-ability" of the electronic medium, that is, the internet and mobile technology. These days, the truth seems to belong not only to the market-place of competing ideas but to the one who shout the loudest, claiming to be the truth of morality, politics, even of Jesus and His Church. The latest example is the social media reaction to the Church's declaration that she has no authority to bless same-sex union.
Like Pilate, faced with the Truth, we too might be too blind to recognise Him. But one fact remains. Truth is not a thing. It is never a possession. We do not own it like in cancel-culture as it seeks to impose its own version of what reality should be and that anyone who dares to dissent from it will be cancelled. Indeed, truth is personal but it is not “subjectively” personal meaning that it should reflect my choices, preferences, likes or dislikes. Rather Truth is “objectively” personal in the sense that Truth is a Person. It is not invested in a person, but Truth is THIS Person otherwise known as Jesus Christ.
Today, Truth stands in front of us battered by those who wield the power to darken the world with lies, hatred and violence. We worship Him who stands against the power darkness and who appears ostensibly vanquished by it. Still, the worship and service of Him is our only protection against the different competing “truths” that demand our allegiance. There is no way Man can ever withstand the lies of Satan, except in Jesus, with Jesus and under Jesus because He is Truth. Today, Truth is wounded for our sake. If He stood no chance against the might of the Roman Empire, one might be tempted to despair that in the face of an even greater duplicity of gigantic tech-powers, what chance does Truth have? While the power of darkness is overwhelming and He stands seemingly crushed and conquered, the answer is on the 3rd day. He will rise again because Jesus is the only Truth that redeems. He is the only Truth that brings salvation. He is the only Truth that leads to eternal life. Come let us worship Him.
[1] In rare cases, an exercise in democracy when forcing out dictators. In other cases, the expression of mob mentality.
[2] Let us not be Wikipedia about this. In the sense that this platform democratises knowledge that now instead of a few, everyone can be an expert. There are real experts. We should trust them, but we should never invest infallibility on them. Otherwise, they can be autocrats who burnish their credentials through lab-coats whilst pontificating from their ivory towers. For example, "Who is Bill Gates?". Is he the saviour of the world? Does he know the way to heaven? By the same token, the question could be asked of the Pope, bishops and priests. Who are these “experts”? The answer is found in the Passion Narrative: “Yes, I am a King. I was born for this. I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the Truth; and all who are on the side of Truth listen to my voice”. The answer is to keep close to Jesus so that we can recognise His voice.
[3]According to Joseph Goebbels who said this during World War II: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
