The Impact of Truth
I debated about this blog because of where we are at this moment. Just the mere mention of truth becomes divisive. Our nation and our world are struggling with so many things today, but why, in heaven’s name, are we struggling with “truth.” I’m puzzled why this is. Why no one wants to hear the truth as it actually is. If someone doesn’t like it, it gets watered down until it meets his or her agenda. Truth has become relative. If so, then what is believed isn’t truth at all but someone’s own perception.
Stephen B. Presser wrote a pointed article titled “Overturn!” (see the August 2022 edition of Chronicles) in which he discussed the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. It’s an informative article for those who are on the fence regarding the issue of abortion. It is hoped that after you’ve read it, you will at least know the truth behind the decision to overturn.
As you are aware, there are three branches of the U. S. Government: executive, legislative, and judicial. The judicial branch includes the Supreme Court with its nine justices. On the Harry S. Truman website (trumanlibrary.gov) it states the justices’ role: “they are judges who interpret laws according to the Constitution.” However, legal realism stepped in many many years ago. Presser points out the cleverness of those in elevated positions who use words (deliberately in most cases) that put a different spin on issues. Words get twisted, and, in so doing, impact decisions made and prolong the consequences of such decisions. Let’s take a glimpse at the impact made by Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. who wrote in 1881 “the life of the law has not been logic, but experience.” How has this comment, stated over 140 years ago, impacted us? It was championed by Jerome Frank in his book Law and the Modern Mind (1930). In an abstract of an article (“Jerome Frank’s Contributions to the Philosophy of American Legal Realism) published in the Vanderbilt Law Review, the author, Julius Paul, points out “Holmes’ monumental influence, together with the impact of positivism, American pragmatism and more recently, psychoanalysis, have all played important roles in shaping the development of the school of American legal realism.” It is believed that such viewpoints of Holmes and Frank have meant rules as originally put forth could, going forward, be adjusted based on the changing culture. “It was, in effect, a warrant for judges to act as legislators rather than adjudicators.”
Presser illustrates this point stating “once Franklin Roosevelt had succeeded in nominating and confirming enough justices sympathetic to New Deal practices, that is precisely what the Supreme Court did.” Presser goes on to state that “legal realism was achieved most notably by the Warren Court, when Chief Justice Earl Warren persuaded his fellows to reexamine school segregation, criminal procedure, legislative apportionment, public school prayer and Bible reading, and a host of other social issues.” And the results?
So where is legal realism when it comes to truth? Let’s look at truth regarding the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Presser quotes Justice Samuel Alito at the time of the decision: “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision.” Truth. Second, the conceived child is a person with constitutional protection. Truth. Just listen to the child’s heartbeat in the mother’s womb. Third, Presser points out that “the Court was functioning in unauthorized territory….condoning the taking of human life.” Truth.
Truth versus legal realism and secular humanism. We can see with Roe v. Wade just how massively impactful both decisions were, one in 1973 and now, in 2022. Nearly fifty years of inexcusable death between these two bookends of years. Aborted children who could have made a positive impact on a broken world. We will never know. But perhaps now children have a better chance to come into this world and make a positive difference for generations to come because of truth.
David Fiorazo, in his book Redefining Truth, somewhat comforts us with the words “Truth will always be under assault.” It was in Jesus’ time and it is today. We are a society that needs not just a greater grasp of the truth, but a greater soul. In just over two months, Christians will be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. In our church service, the pastor asked why did Jesus come to earth. He then took us to 1 John 3:8 in which the apostle John enlightens us with the truth, saying “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” Truth.