The truth shall set you free
Many spiritual teachers and, indeed, many mental health workers stress the importance of facing the truth of traumas if one is to heal and move on with one’s life. There is a poignant reminder of this in the Bible used by the Christian religion. In the book of John 8:32-36 (KJV) it is asserted the following conversation took places between Jesus and his disciples:
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free.
The answered him, we be Abraham’s seed, and were never
in bondage to any man: how sayest thou. Ye shall be made
free?
Jesus answered them Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the
Son abideth ever.
If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free
Indeed.”
One could spend pages and hours dissecting the history and the meaning of terms such as sin, Son, and truth. In fact many theologians and ministers have done just that.
Every religion purports to have “the truth”. Every religion has its definition of sin and often a long list of sinful behavior.
Every political party also has an official definition of sin although they may not use that word.
Whether in families, local, state, national and international government bodies the question of whose truth and the definition or parameters of sin is endlessly debated.
Occasionally, “science” offers evidence of some truths at some point in time. Later, “science or scientists” will offer new truths.
Not many years ago there was a movement in my professional field to help individuals uncover repressed truths. The belief was that only my discovering the source of one’s existential angst could one correct the lies one had told oneself about a trauma and, thus, could one begin to heal. Later it was discovered that all too often the “repressed truth” was created by the process the counselor was using to uncover the same.
Those in my profession as well as many religious leaders are fond of clearly labeling those who are victims and those who are the offenders or perpetrators of the events leading to the victim status of the individuals. The intent is often very laudatory and is twofold:
Despite the teachings of such people as Jesus and the evidence of scientific studies which reveals that punishment is not an effective deterrent for future abuse, often punishment is a clear objective of those who are labeled victims and those responsible for insuring “justice” as well as those responsible for attempting to stop future abuse.
I am as human as anyone else and can certainly understand the short term internal reward for seeing the perpetrator of abuse punished. It is very easy to think or even to say, “He/she got what they deserved. Finally, some justice.” This is satisfying as long as one can:
If we, as a community truly want to create a more just, loving, safer community we may need to consider the following alternate truths:
There may be a kernel of truth in what Jesus and other wise teachers have taught: “The truth will make you free.” We must first ask: “Whose truth? Free from what to do what?” If the freedom is the temporary satisfaction of pointing fingers so that we can feel vindicated and self-righteous it is a very temporary freedom.
Let me be clear that I believe:
Written September 13, 2018
Many spiritual teachers and, indeed, many mental health workers stress the importance of facing the truth of traumas if one is to heal and move on with one’s life. There is a poignant reminder of this in the Bible used by the Christian religion. In the book of John 8:32-36 (KJV) it is asserted the following conversation took places between Jesus and his disciples:
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free.
The answered him, we be Abraham’s seed, and were never
in bondage to any man: how sayest thou. Ye shall be made
free?
Jesus answered them Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the
Son abideth ever.
If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free
Indeed.”
One could spend pages and hours dissecting the history and the meaning of terms such as sin, Son, and truth. In fact many theologians and ministers have done just that.
Every religion purports to have “the truth”. Every religion has its definition of sin and often a long list of sinful behavior.
Every political party also has an official definition of sin although they may not use that word.
Whether in families, local, state, national and international government bodies the question of whose truth and the definition or parameters of sin is endlessly debated.
Occasionally, “science” offers evidence of some truths at some point in time. Later, “science or scientists” will offer new truths.
Not many years ago there was a movement in my professional field to help individuals uncover repressed truths. The belief was that only my discovering the source of one’s existential angst could one correct the lies one had told oneself about a trauma and, thus, could one begin to heal. Later it was discovered that all too often the “repressed truth” was created by the process the counselor was using to uncover the same.
Those in my profession as well as many religious leaders are fond of clearly labeling those who are victims and those who are the offenders or perpetrators of the events leading to the victim status of the individuals. The intent is often very laudatory and is twofold:
- Help the individual(s) heal and get on with his or her life.
- Stop future abuse/events leading to victim status.
Despite the teachings of such people as Jesus and the evidence of scientific studies which reveals that punishment is not an effective deterrent for future abuse, often punishment is a clear objective of those who are labeled victims and those responsible for insuring “justice” as well as those responsible for attempting to stop future abuse.
I am as human as anyone else and can certainly understand the short term internal reward for seeing the perpetrator of abuse punished. It is very easy to think or even to say, “He/she got what they deserved. Finally, some justice.” This is satisfying as long as one can:
- Clearly rank order sins/ways of abusing/hurting others.
- Remain in that protected group of people whose “sins” are not outed.
- Hide from the truth that the goal is to punish even if it is likely to increase sins/crimes in the future.
If we, as a community truly want to create a more just, loving, safer community we may need to consider the following alternate truths:
- Putting people in jail when the primary/core issue is addiction is not cost effective or healing for the individual or the community long term.
- Most of us, as adults, have a strong sexual desire and will very intentionally, safely and lovingly address that desire or will impulsively act out even if our acting out behavior is abhorrent to us.
- Children are very sexual and need to know how to address their sexual feelings wither they are heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, trans gender, or fluid.
- We must create safe, loving places for people to get help with compulsive sexual desires which are stronger than the moral values or the mores of the community or the individual.
- Many of us have created and promote a social and economic community in which one is strongly encouraged and even manipulated to believe that inner peace/contentment/worth will be found in actions, people, places and things outside of ourselves. In other words, we, as a society promote and laud some addictive behavior while condemning others.
There may be a kernel of truth in what Jesus and other wise teachers have taught: “The truth will make you free.” We must first ask: “Whose truth? Free from what to do what?” If the freedom is the temporary satisfaction of pointing fingers so that we can feel vindicated and self-righteous it is a very temporary freedom.
Let me be clear that I believe:
- Sexual abuse is very harmful and needs to be stopped.
- Hurting others as a way of temporarily feeling better does not work and is wrong, wrong, wrong.
- Some people are not treatable; their brains will never be able to consider the needs of others.
- Some behavior is more immediately or even permanently dangerous that other behavior.
- There are no easy answers. There is much we still do not know.
- Some issues are uncomfortable. We can survive the discomfort.
Written September 13, 2018
RSS Feed