Facts vs. Truth

As a good Irishman I believe that a good tale is much better than factual ramblings. In fact, I believe that there is often more truth found in a good tale than in a lot of factual recitations.

As a pastor I found that true in scripture as well. I know a lot of folk who can quote biblical “facts” until the cows come home, but miss the truth of the biblical narrative. For instance the biblical writers often borrowed stories from other traditions and then put the truth spin on that story. The most famous of these is likely the story of Noah and the Ark. This story, originally the Gilamesh Legend is one of the most ancient of stories that came originally from Mesopotamia about 2700 B.C. It is a story about the king or Uruk who was 2/3rds god and 1/3 man who turned out to be a very bad dude who eventually got his from the other gods who frowned upon is bad behavior. At anyrate, the Hebrews borrowed the story and adapted it to tell the moral the outcome of immoral behavior existing throughout humankind whom God wipes out with a flood with the exception of Noah and his kin and assorted animals. Then God makes a covenant with people, symbolized by the rainbow that God would never do that again no matter how badly people acted. That was the truth they saw and depicted in the story.

Another story of this ilk that rarely gets preached is the story of Gideon fighting the Midianites. Gideon with a little bity army conquers a great big army of Midianites with the Lord’s help. True. The scripture leaves out the part where the Midianites find out there is trouble on their home from and most leave to go fight that battle and Gideon and his 300 soldiers wipe them out. The story is true in the of the believers, even if the facts get played with a bit.

One of my favorite websites is Politifact.com which is always checking out the validity or the factuality of political claims made. Some others do the same, but in my opinion Politifact does it the most evenhanded.

So, are politicians or others, free to make claims that are untrue even if they aren’t if they fit their ideology? I think not. A lie is a lie and interpretation is interpretation and the two are not the same. For instance, today Politifact examined the claims of American for Prosperity say that Kay Hagan supports waivers for friends of Obama and special treatment for Congress and their staffs. They find that claim false. The facts are that 1,000 companies received Obamacare waivers but there is not evidence to indicate they are Obama’s friends.

Many folk use facts to tell lies as folk make tell stories to tell truths. Another illustration is my previous article on the subject of government being too big. It is factual in one sense but in essence a total lie that leads away from truth rather than reveal truth.

And then there are great stories that are just plain lies that take on validity because they get repeated frequently. When Ronald Reagan ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1976 he told this story: “There’s a woman in Chicago. She has 80 names, 30 addresses, 12 Social Security cards. …She’s got Medicaid, getting food stamps an she is collecting welfare under each of her names. Her tax-free income alone is over $150,000.” Wow what a story for those folk who love to blame the welfare recipients of mass corruption. The problem was the story was a total lie. She didn’t exist. Some reporters said there was a 47-year-old woman in Chicago who abused the system but in now way to the amount Reagan told. It was a good and effective story that matched many folks ideological frame of mind complete with heroes and villains. People also assumed the woman was black even though Reagan did not say that, but it fit their stereotype.

The Welfare Queen story is still going with many variations by modern politicians and people are still buying it because they want to. Modern versions include calling President Obama the “food stamp president.” Others claiming welfare has gone from a safety net to a hammock. Others sneer at the “entitlement society,” believing they are hardworking versus the lazy poor.

Do you see all the ad stories on TV on how well workers at Wal-Mart are doing? Wow, you would think that working at Wal-Mart was the pathway to middle class economic standing. But the facts are that the median wage of Wal-Mart workers is $8.80 and need food stamps in order to take care of their families. All this while the Walton’s, the owners of Wal-Mart make millions and find every tax advantage possible. In other words, Wal-Mart has found a way to make the government pay for their workers while they pocket enormous profits. These are the stories that tell lies rather the reveal truth.

We love our stories. I believe in story telling. But I believe stories are to be told to reveal truth not to hide it. We need better storytellers today.