The Spirit of Truth

As Opposed to the Extreme Right Wing Perversions thereof

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.
No, truth isn't "relative", or as Joyce Myers says, "relevant" (I think she meant relative, we get the point.) But neither is it synonymous with "false" or "lying skank" or "not true." Truth is absolute and knowable. Morality, however, can depend on the situation- this "situational ethics" can be confused with a confusion with the truth itself. Situational ethics can say that, for example, it is not ethical or right to walk across the street against the light as that is against the traffic laws. However, if your child darted into traffic across the street most people would deem you right and ethical to dart out after her, even if against the light to save her from being hit by a car as a higher moral mandate. The situation dictates what is there and then ethical or not. You can think of a thousand such circumstances that justify more than a black letter legal pronouncement of what is the "right." There is a "self-defense" doctrine to murder, so 'murder' is not always unjustified. There is a "just" war and an "unjust" war theory- the "just" variety exemplified by stamping out the Third Reich and the "unjust" being pure aggression for monetary gain- such as many people think that the Iraq war and deception was and is; when "unjust" it is just mass murder. Things are not always as clear as they appear.
I am a new fan of that Blog of the Courtier character for the reason that he posted a discussion of the Spanish religious blasting the Curia (see, http://www.theblogofthecourtier.blogspot.com/) for being too tied into the extreme whacked religious right, and thus thwarting the move of the Spirit expressed in Vatican II. I also like and appreciate the cartoon below the article on the flight of reason- a scary phenomenon.
Truth isn't something that should be sacrificed to a political agenda. Take for example the protest of Dawn Eden on her blog (http://www.dawneden.blogspot.com/) that Georgetown "painted over" the IHS name of Christ in Gaston Hall at the Obama lecture to play to her whacked extreme religiously bigotted audience. In an hour long lecture on the economy in which the US President discussed the banking crisis, mortgage back security abuses and economic melt-down, the only take away apparently that Dawn Eden took was that Obama didn't mention the word "Jesus" (it wasn't billed as a theological talk), and the total fabrication that Georgetown or Jack DeGoia "painted over" the IHS insignia in Gaston Hall.
When there is a non-religious talk, many of which are given in Gaston Hall because it is just a great beautiful venue for events, they nearly always cover up the the wooden dias appropriately behind the speaker(s)- regardless of their political affiliation, not as an affront to Jesus, but perhaps because the people speaking are not there to represent Jesus per se in a non-religious context. We also have something called the "establishment clause" (Ist Amendment to the US Constitution ) which is reflected in spirit at least by the US President not endorcing any religion by posting it's logo above his head.
It is nothing short of childish (grossly immature) and petulant to sit in a beautiful venue as an invited guest and insult the host like this. It is also flatly dishonest- because No one "painted over" the IHS. It is still there. It is part of an architectural gem-no one took a paint brush to this classic art just before Obama showing up.
The fact that this sort of junk is applauded, defended, financed and protected, speaks volumes about the reforms that have to be and should be made to create an intellectually honest environment where Christ is actually preached and represented and people speaking the truth in love and arguing for the reign of Love are not persecuted. If not, there is no wonder that the popular perception of the Papacy is more aligned to Eddie Izzard's reflections below (I apologize in advance for the irreverent tone, but in a sense the papacy deserves it.)


Postscript: HOMELAND SECURITY is now warning that inflamed Right Wing extremist rhetoric is creating a threat to national security coupled with the economic stress, the first African American president, etc. http://news.aol.com/?feature=428197
Another reason to recover reason and stop the madness.

Update: Apparently while not "painted" the IHS was covered over with a black triangle.
Can you imagine that uproar of what would have ensued and the titles of the articles if Obama appeared beneath the IHS?. "Who does he think he is? JESUS?"
The biggoted blogosphere still misses the point of the economic lecture completely (if they understand economics at all), and still insist on mocking Obama for his reference to the Sermon on the Mount- as if this Harvard Law graduate should be biblically ignorant or not allowed to quote scripture.