From my book, A Very Convenient Truth, or, Jesus Told Us There’d Be Days Like These, So Stop Worrying About the Planet and Get With His Program!. Click on the link to order.
The Greeks had a word for it. Two words, actually: aletheia and phobos. As we know, phobos means an irrational fear of something, and in some contexts, that fear extends to hatred of that thing.
Aletheia means “truth”.
Aletheiaphobia, then, is an irrational fear or hatred of truth, and a lot of people have it these days. In general, when truth conflicts with one’s world-view, truth loses out. This is the case, no matter where one sits on the socio-political spectrum. On one hand, people are encouraged to establish their identity based on their own feelings and desires, even if those run contrary to scientific reality. On another hand, scientific evidence is discarded when it runs contrary to one’s interpretation of the Bible. And on yet another hand (there are several hands here), “science” is often invoked to try to discredit the Bible.
Moreover, many professing Christians bypass the truth of Jesus Christ in favour of a world-view they think sounds Biblical but is, in fact, diametrically opposed to the way He calls us to live. Consider attitudes towards the poor, people from different cultures, women, grace towards enemies: many people who claim to be Christians openly ignore Jesus’ words on those subjects.
Worse, the word “truth” has been corrupted to mean “point of view”. “I’ll tell you my truth and you tell me yours” is an expression you hear from time to time. In fact, one can share one’s point of view, or reality, or version of events, but there is only one Truth.
Jesus said [to Thomas], I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.
— John 14:6-7
When Pontius Pilate said, “What is truth?”, was that a genuine question, or a rhetorical one? At the time, Pilate was looking the Truth in the face, so was he trying to dismiss the matter as something no one could answer, or suggest that truth was different things to different people?
Sadly, no matter which “camp” one falls into, be it progressive, conservative, or something not-quite-defined, if anyone tries to show an error and point out the Truth, one is vilified for doing so.
A large part of the root of this fear of truth is the technological age. The ability of social media to spread misinformation, literally faster than the speed of thought, confuses people, and confusion, as Paul points out, is the work of Satan (“God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” 1 Corinthians 14:33).
Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, even online shopping, have reduced the value of human beings, especially in one’s own eyes. People grope for an “identity” that puts their own personal stamp on their lives and makes them “noticeable”. The number of cases where people self-identify as something different from the way they were made, defying both science and the Bible, is increasing. Amid the noise and dehumanizing social developments, people cry out, “look at me! I’m a person! I’m unique!”, and in so doing, overlook the fact that God already made them unique and values them.
So it’s time to bring Truth into the discussion on climate change and environmental destruction.
The truth is … climate change is happening.
The truth is … human beings are responsible for a lot of it.
The truth is … nearly sixty years of efforts to reverse, end or slow down environmental destruction, be it through community work, international treaties and solemn promises on the campaign trail have failed.
The truth is … that we were warned, thousands of years ago, that this would happen and have also been given an “out”, which is ours for the taking.
The truth is … that people are so afraid of Truth, they will make up their own reality rather than face it.
Aletheiaphobia: fear of Truth. It’s a “thing”, and it’s something that needs to be overcome if we are going to survive – not just climate change, but the myriad onslaughts upon us now and still to come.
Two Minutes for Cross-Checking! 