Today I was reading a book about heroes, and one of the heroes mentioned in the book was Martin Luther King Jr. I mentioned that I didn't think he was a very good hero, since there are lots of things I have heard about his life that make me think he was probably not a very moral person. My father-in-law brought up the good point that any one can be easily portrayed in the way that we choose to see them. As Pappy Boyington said,
"Show me a hero, and I'll prove he's a bum."
Now, Boyington's main point was that true heroes are the ones that go nameless, rather than getting the recognition of the world, but I think that there is definitely another meaning. People choose to see others in a certain light, and proof will seemingly spawn from the earth that they are correct.
This really got me thinking about the book that I just finished, 1984. Orwell portrays a dystopian society where the government maintains control partly by owning history. Any evidence that events have occurred contrary to the party's opinion is destroyed, and when the party changes opinion, history is altered to agree.
What scares me is that we don't need an oppressive government today, we can do this to ourselves. People seek to build themselves up and support their belief by tearing others down. We "turn [another's] virtue into pitch, and out of [his] goodness make the net that shall enmesh them all." With ever-expanding media capabilities, we can turn a president, neighbor, hero, or best friend into a criminal within seconds.
Even Orwell's dire view of the future did not see society collectively working to destroy it's own memory.
With this in mind, it becomes very hard to really know truth from fact, which in my opinion brings into focus the immense need for modern revelation. I also thought of a quote from Second Hand Lions, one of my favorite movies-
" Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good. That honour, courage and virtue mean everything ; that power and money ... money and power mean nothing. That good always triumphs over evil. And I want you to remember this.... that love....true love never dies ! Remember that boy ... remember that. Doesn't matter if it is true or not, a man should believe in those things , because those are the things worth believing in...... got that ? "
