One of my all-time favorite movies is A Few Good Men . Most people who have seen the film remember the epic scene as the movie rolls to its conclusion . Tom Cruise ’ s character is interrogating Jack Nicholson ’ s on the stand . They intently stare each other down as their passions rise . When Nicholson asks , “ You want answers ?” Cruise yells in reply , “ I want the truth !” That ’ s when Nicholson looks him in the eyes and replies , “ You can ’ t handle the truth .”*
It seems that is where we have landed in our culture today . Everybody claims they want truth , in some form or fashion . But when truth comes to the surface , most people can ’ t handle it . That ’ s why a call for truth becomes little more than a call for consensus these days .
The problem is that truth isn ’ t created by consensus . What ’ s more , lack of truth comes with consequences . When a culture chooses to suppress truth , that culture will face the consequences of its choices . The blame is on us .
Everyone is born with a conscience . We have been given a truth regulator , a smoke detector of the soul . Our conscience knows the truth . Similarly , our conscience knows the smoke and mirrors of a lie . That ’ s why you have probably found yourself innately knowing when something or someone is off . You are built with a conscience tied to truth .
The suppression of truth , over time , dulls the conscience . Like a smoke detector with depleted batteries , the dulled conscience becomes less alert . Before you know it , a person ’ s conscience can be buried so deep under a pile of lies that the person can no longer distinguish between truth and fiction , right and wrong . Such a conscience no longer works , and the result is the destruction of character .
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