Jack's Church Adventures, Truth Edition, 31 Aug 2009

(note: I just realized I set this such that only friends could read it; that error has been remedied and this has be re-posted)

Proper Church Adventures will resume next week.

A few months ago I watched a video of Eddie Izzard with Bill Maher on Politically Incorrect in 1998 around the time the Monica Lewinsky thing came around that I didn't care about, still don't care about, and had I been the age I am now back then probably wouldn't have cared about either.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFisw16di3w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTYtu4lSqfU&feature=related

(get it while it's hot)

With them was a woman named Cyndi Mosteller who is a Christian Activist preoccupied with all the things you would expect a Christian Activist to be preoccupied with, one of these things was the truth and the absoluteness of it. There was a very interesting back and forth on the truth.

Being a huge fan and follower of Eddie Izzard, I knew his position on lies and his gauge on lies, how some lies aren't important, how some truths aren't worth telling, and how some lies are almost imperative. Bill Maher brought up an editorial by Arthur Schlesinger and (, even though I hate editorials,) I found this particular excerpt surprisingly enlightening, "Many people in America seem to feel that questions that no one has a right to ask do not call for truthful answers."

Another guest, Jasmine Guy, made the point that Bill Clinton owed Hillary an honest answer; but he did not owe her one.

Eddie brought up the point that sometimes not telling the truth is an ethical imperative. Nazis looking for Jews hiding in one's home should not be told the truth.

When I was still in University I took a French class as part of my GE requirements (et oui, je peut parle bien francais), my French Professor was still living in France during the Lewinsky thing and she and pretty much all of France could not figure out why the Americans had totally lost the plot over that. It could have been that infidelity is almost expected of political figures in France but she and I both felt that for the French, it wasn't important. "Monica n'est pas un problem pour les Etats-Unis, elle est un problem pour Mme. Clinton" (Monica is not a problem for the United States, she is a problem for Mrs. Clinton.)

On Jasmine's point and on Arthur's -- and Eddie's -- and Bill's -- and my old French teacher's; I agree in full.

While I will never question the importance of knowing the truth, as I will always feel that the truth is worth knowing and worth seeking; I don't believe I will ever concede that the truth is always worth telling. Cyndi Mosteller brought up the point that not telling the truth shows disrespect for the other person, and for the most part I agree; however not everyone deserves my respect. For a woman like Cyndi Mosteller, I would lie to her even if it didn't matter.