Thursday, May 5, 2011

...and it's still wisdom.

If Charles Manson tells you that 2 + 2 = 4, would you believe him?

If North Korea's Kim Jong Il told you that The Age of Reason, a book by Thomas Paine, was written as an attack on the claims of religion and the legitimacy of the Bible, would his statement be untrue?

Because your favorite reporter, your most adored politician, most loved professor--because your mother, best friend or trusted pastor, rabbi or imam says y is the best policy, peace is necessary through x or that "we" are better or "they" are different or...will it make that assertion true?

Wisdom is wisdom and truth is truth--regardless of its source. Likewise foolishness, folly, ignorance and deceit are each what they are regardless of our affection for their source.

We each need to search for and discover truth and wisdom for ourselves, only then can we possess it and live through it. If we don't get it for ourselves, what we do get won't be wisdom at all. And in fact will have a lot more pain and repeated errors than necessary.

Since you can't borrow wisdom from another and the alternatives to wisdom are frightful (ignorance, blindness, victimhood...), let's each consider what we know and how we know it--and endeavor to be hungry for wisdom.

Uncompromisingly Yours,

RR

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