Watch What You Say!

I was lamenting to my husband the other day about one of my pet peeves.  It drives me crazy when I hear Oprah Winfrey—or anyone for that matter—talk about speaking “your” truth. 

It seems to be a mantra for Oprah, like when she spoke at the Golden Globes after receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award.

She said:

“What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have." 

Ben Shapiro (who I know nothing about), responded with this adept comment:

"There is no such thing as 'your truth.' There is the truth and your opinion."

Full disclosure—at that time Oprah was speaking about the #MeToo movement and women speaking out when they have been assaulted.  In her defense, you could say that every individual’s story is different and apply the “your” tag to it.

However, referencing the movement is not the only time Oprah has promoted this idea. She uses it frequently.

So, as I was complaining to my husband about the expression “your truth,” it came out that this is likely a product of the wider problem of relativistic thinking embraced today.

What I mean by “relativistic thinking” is the idea that there is no absolute right and wrong, but that whatever anyone thinks is right, is right. 

Relativism is ridiculous.  I often use the example when teaching that if the light is on, I can say I think it is off, but no matter what I think about it, the reality is the light is on.  My opinion doesn’t change the reality.

Obviously, the grave danger of relativism is that the goalposts keep moving and we lose our sense of morality.  When “your” is attached to the word “truth,” and becomes acceptable to a wider audience, the difference between truth and opinion appears negligible, which it is not.

You see, a Christian’s sensitivity to the word Truth is deeply connected to God, so it does not change according to one’s individual perception.  There is One Truth, not many, and Truth does not change with the tide.

Here is an interesting response to the question What is Truth? 

“I suppose the most basic definition of truth would be: the conformity of the intellect with what the thing perceived actually is. This would be objective truth. In our culture many want to make such truth relative. "You have your truth and I have mine." Such is not truth. If one’s perception of something does not conform to what it actually is, then one is in error—no matter how convinced one is and certainly no matter how one feels about it. People who are colorblind 

are not seeing all the true colors before them.”  Fr. Vincent Serpa O.P.

Note the words “actually is.”  Not what we “think” it is.

I know all of this is a bit deep, but I mention it because the idea of “your truth” is one of those phrases that is appealing, and as it sneaks into our language and becomes normative, it has the power to bring about a dramatic change in our culture in regards to what we believe.

Words matter.  We should pay careful attention to them.

Janet Cassidy

Janetcassidy.com