Exposing and Defeating Deception With Truth
Friends, we live in a world jam-packed with lies and awash in the darkness of deception.
We’re all engulfed, immersed, and surrounded by dark oceans of lies. I’m not just talking about a deceptive used car salesman (apologies to those who sell cars. Not all of them are bad) who wants to sell you a lemon or a clunker car with a life span of few days. Lies and deception is what we see, hear, and experience throughout our earthly life span.
Everywhere around us, we see, hear and experience deception and lies. Some of these lies are so cleverly diluted with a 1 to 99% truth that make them believable and trustworthy. It’s in the news, in special interest groups with specific agendas, in social media, and in words and actions we hear and experience from friends or foes. It’s in you and me if we choose to lie and deceive others to satisfy our pleasures or to accomplish some selfish goals.
Even those whose name, integrity, and trustworthiness seem to be ironclad can be wrong, mistaken, deceived and can lead others astray much like a blind leading the blind. In medical school, I’ve often heard this well-known statement attributed to the father of evidence-based medicine Dr. David Sackett:
“Half of what you’ll learn in medical school will be shown to be either dead wrong or out of date within five years of your graduation; the trouble is that nobody can tell you which half–so the most important thing to learn is how to learn on your own.”
Dr. C.Sidney Burwell who was Dean of Harvard University’s Faculty of Medicine 1935- 1949 once addressed Harvard medical students with these words
“Half of what we are going to teach you is wrong, and half of it is right. Our problem is that we don’t know which half is which.” Harvard Medical School’s website at https://hms.harvard.edu/about-hms/facts-figures/past-deans-faculty-medicine
Both of these men realized our human limitations to being infallible, right, truthful and accurate. In my nearly two decades of practicing medicine I’ve seen the truth of their statements again and again. Estrogen and opioids, among many other examples, that physicians were routinely bombarded with news of their safety and benefits, and practically faulted and shamed for not prescribing to their patients( with medical “research” by certain groups and entities to justify their frequent use) turned up to be one of those “half of what we are going to teach you is wrong”. Estrogen taunted by scientific minds and clinicians as great for the heart caused enough heart attacks and strokes to strongly discourage its long term use, and opioids ( including prescription and illicit opioids) killed more than 399,000 people from 1999-2017 ( Scholl L, Seth P, Kariisa M, Wilson N, Baldwin G. Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths – United States, 2013-2017. WR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 21 December 2018). Someone got much richer with misinformation and deceptive words that misled physicians and patients alike.
Do you wonder what medical information and choices are currently being marketed to us by few entities as right, accurate , and truthful only to be shunned and discredited years later? The art and science of medicine is a blessing and saves many lives but scientific claims that are purposely driven by greed, half- truths, deception, alternative motives, and false information kills and destroys many lives including 399,000 young lives, and counting, who died from overdose.
Truly, deception steals your peace, kills, and destroys. I wonder, how many of us are buried under a load of lies, deception and faulty thinking about our value, worth, and significance? How many of us believe lies, half-truths, and deceiving thoughts about ourselves or others because someone that appears learned, smart, trustworthy, and nice said it.
Is what you heard yesterday, hearing today, and will hear tomorrow about you from others 100% true? Are those negative thoughts you and I have about ourselves, others, and about our future 100% true?
Friends, let’s be wise. Human words, thoughts and the evaluation of others (and our own negative thoughts and views of ourselves) are mostly subjective and can be based on wounded feelings, biases, prejudice, turbulent emotions, greed, lust, jealousy, anger, ambition or pride.
Put what you hear including new scientific claims under the microscope. We must be critical thinkers who take the mean and negative words and thoughts targeted at us by others, and those we inflict on others with a grain of salt.
A lie and a deceptive word can only hurt us and destroy our lives if we believe it and embrace it as the truth.
In this dark world of overflowing lies and deception, I’ve decided to seek and pursue the truth of God who declares me valuable, worthy, and significant. You and I are declared by God in the Bible as worthy of love, forgiveness, acceptance, and redemption. And that’s The Truth that we can fully embrace, find hope in, and that will bring light to every heart overburdened by the evil darkness of lies and deception.
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 8:32 (NIV)
Views expressed here are only of the author, and do not represent the views of any other organization or entity. Information in this blog are not meant to be medical advice. Please see your medical provider or psychologist for any of your medical or psychological concerns.