Choose Truth: The Truth Will Set You Free

So somehow I did not have a post for Monday. Which I did not realize till Tuesday. Oh well. 

But it kind of turns out well, because there's something I want to say. 

*disclaimer: I do not endorse all these men, but these quotations are worth pondering.*

There is so much that frustrates me right now in what I'm seeing going around. So I'm going to address it. Because someone has to speak the truth. Even if no one sees this.

"Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." (Sir Winston Churchill). 
"The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future." (Theodore Roosevelt). 

You can't change history to fit what you think it should be like. You can't remove the unsavoury parts. You can't pretend stuff never happened. You can't lie and make up new facts. History is our past. Something we need to study and know so we can learn from it. Ignoring it only causes it to be repeated even worse than it was before. The only way to change history is by becoming familiar with it and learning from it so we can make changes in our present. To hide or change a nation's history grievously harms that people. 

"The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history." (George Orwell).
"Each time history repeats itself, the price goes up." 

You can't blame those now living for what happened before they were even thought of. It is unfair in the most flagrant way. Is a baby to blame for his father's bad actions when his father was a teenager? Is a grandchild to blame for what his grandfather did a hundred years ago? Wasn't that what the Nazis said--if your grandparents were Jews, you were tainted? So if your grandparents owned slaves, you are racist? Because a king attacked your country three hundred years ago, the current prime minister is hateful? 

Stop trying to saddle people with guilt for crimes they never committed. But wake up and start insisting that people take responsibility for the crimes they did commit. Stop screaming when someone is punished for the wrongdoing they did. Stop pretending that someone didn't do any wrong. It is blatant injustice and evil to allow someone to evade responsibility for their actions. MAN UP! You made a wrong choice, you must bear the consequences!! Why should you, guilty, be allowed to go scot-free while the innocent suffer for what they never did? 

If it was anything but the current situation, everyone would be screaming at such injustice. Even children know that to let a wrongdoer go free and punish someone who didn't do anything is horribly evil. Even children understand justice. 

"Have we reached the ultimate stage of absurdity where some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, while other people are not held responsible for what they themselves are doing today?" (Thomas Sowell). 
"It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people." (Martin Luther King Jr.)

Ignorance is one of the most dangerous things in the world. Ignorance sparks prejudice and hate. Ignorance starts well-meaning stupidity. Don't be ignorant. Study. Look things up. Dig for facts. Find the truth. Know what you're supporting. Listen to other perspectives. Try to find what's truly the right. Find out about the people who are the prominent actors or names. Check into facts for yourself. Don't make.a judgement without finding out what really happened first. Stop spreading stories without finding out their veracity first. Try to understand the reasons behind something. Don't get swept away by emotion-triggering language or pathetic stories. Take a look at the source of the information and see if it's trustworthy. BE INFORMED. 

"To be ignorant of the past is to be forever a child." (Cicero). 
"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." (Martin Luther King Jr.)
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!  Woe unto them [w]hich justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!” (Isaiah 5:20-23).

Stop trying to hide the facts. If something is corrupt, say it. If someone is being unjustly attacked, say it. If a lie is circulating, SAY IT. It is by keeping silent that you allow these things to become rooted. Lies cannot stand before truth. Speak the truth. Let it be known and heard. Don't be silent. 

"Everything faded into mist. The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." (George Orwell). 

"If not us, who? If not now, when?" (John F. Kennedy). 

There are so many voices yelling to be heard right now. Remember to take a break from the chaos and go to God. His voice is the only one that matters. His words are the truth. Listen to what He has to say and then repeat it. Say it loudly. Let it fill the earth. Don't be threatened or shamed into silence. God's truth cannot be proven false. It is TRUTH. Pure and absolute. Now and forever. It will stand against all attacks. Stand in God's strength. His Name is a strong tower; run into it and you will be safe. 

"If I were to remain silent, I'd be guilty of complicity." (Albert Einstein.)
"What you allow is what will continue."
"The world is a dangerous place not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." (Albert Einstein). 
"You have enemies? Good. It means you've stood up for something, sometime, in your life." (Sir Winston Churchill.)
“Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; & let him be your fear, & let him be your dread.” (Isaiah 8:12). 

Speak the truth. Because only the truth will last at the end. Start showing true love. True love is truly desiring what is truly the best for the other person. Read that again. WHAT IS TRULY THE BEST. That is Godly love. Love means not letting them hurt themselves. Protecting them from anything that can harm them. That’s why true love is disciplining, nurturing, challenging, restraining. It’s protecting the loved one from hurting themselves or walking blindly with someone/something that will hurt them. That’s why just letting them do what they want to do is not love. That’s carelessness. It’s selfishness. It's the best way to hurt someone. Love is hard work and calls for investment and sacrifice. Love is working now for the results later. Letting loose is having it easy now, and paying the consequences later... often with steep prices. “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour:” (Romans 13:10). Letting someone harm themselves in some way is failing your responsibility.

"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today." (Abraham Lincoln).  
"When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear." (Thomas Sowell). 

Teach this love. Spread it. Show it. Extend grace and mercy.

Start speaking, living, sharing the Truth. 

The Truth is what will set you free. 

The Truth is true justice. 

True love wants to set others free from their chains.

Choose the Truth. 

Don't be silent.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."