Two opposing views – both cannot be true; exclusivity is a must for truth to exist. This most interesting thought has been raised with me by a fellow blogger.
I am challenged by the idea that exclusivity is a must for truth. So, only one sun per solar system? How about the Sirius system? Then, what is truth? That the sun spun around Earth – was that not once the truth? Of course – truth requires a fact or some form of reality.
When the spirit of my uncle appears without a body, communicates telepathically with my clairvoyant while lacking a brain, and heard and responded to something I said to the clairvoyant, was that reality restricted to me and the clairvoyant? As well, when light can be both particle and wave (proven beyond doubt), isn’t the truth bifurcated, non-exclusive?
When the truth relates to a religious belief, how does one define truth? Can there be multiple truths? What of dogma devised to achieve a competitive edge (eg. regarding the Messiah)? There have been, and there are, wars caused by combating religions or their sects reflecting their version of the truth about God (and our relationships with Him).
When the rigorous processes of the scientific method cannot achieve durable – yes, durable and unchallengeable – conclusions in so many key areas of scientific relevance, should assertions of belief in other matters be left to the philosophers? They will, no doubt, enjoy the semantic exchanges which will follow, with abstractions of higher or lower orders confusing the rest of us.
Perhaps, (a) by keeping the claims of religionists to the simplest operational level, (b) by accepting that truth, however defined, may not be static, and (c) allowing multiple truth-claims to co-exist without any priority, the betterment of mankind may be achieved.
For those of us who believe in a Creator, it would be desirable surely to join together spiritually while we tread the many paths to the Divine. The ultimate truth may be found when we accept that we are all responsible for taking one another, including our great spiritual teachers in history, amicably to that which we all seek!
RAJA ARASA RATNAM 