Just a few days ago I wrote about how I actually enjoy disagreeing with someone, not in the sense that I love conflict, of course not, but because I find debate necessary for growth, and honestly that is what I believe life is all about. In the spirit of exploring why most disagreements go south, meaning, why we struggle to keep the conversation civil, I wanted to talk about these two aspects of truth.

But... there is only one truth, right?

   Let's just say that's debatable, and not because I'm trying to be obtuse or divisive, but because like most things in life, truths are nuanced and depending on perceptions they can effectively be different. But hey, not all hope is lost, because there is a way for us to find the common ground, meaning there is always a way for us to identify what truth we are dealing with and act or react accordingly.

That is... theoretically true

   As the name implies it means that on paper, the statement, the assertion, the notion is accurate or very close to accurate. But because I want to make sure that I can give specific examples of what I mean, or more accurately what a theoretical truth means, let's talk about some triggering words and "truths".

Communism is about equality.
   Just writing that short line is a bit painful to me, because as much as I know that when Marx wrote that book he meant to come up with the Utopian society, history has shown us that Communism does not work, in the slightest. In theory however, the idea that we all share in the wealth of the land, that no human is poor, and that wealth distribution is absolute sounds very unicornist.... does it not?

Religion is about love
   Not that I need to dive into this one a whole lot. It's no secret that some of the worse acts humans have ever committed have been in the name of a God. In theory however Religion and faith have been part of civil society for millennia, and we might even owe social structure to it's inception, but like many other human creations it has its flaws, and some of them have stained our history in ways that I don't care to describe.

Social Justice Warriors have the moral highground
   I think its not arguable that the idea of a group that fights for equality for the less represented is doing a great moral deed. As a society we have had to fight against waves of ignorance to achieve equal rights for all races, gays and other minorities, and this fight, this endless struggle must continue without a doubt. That being said the word itself now has many other things attached to it, and some of them can be pretty toxic.

That is... practically true

   Just because It's imperative that I make my point clear, I'm going to use the same examples as the theoretical truths I listed above. This second kind of truth is probably the one where we want to operate, because it's more connected to what is going on around us.

Communism is about control
   Every single time communism has been implemented as a government everything goes south. What makes matters worse, or at least it's does for me, is that Communism has effectively disguised itself as many other things over the years. In countries like Venezuela for example, you will never hear the word being used, and Socialism gets thrown around like free candy.

   In practice Communism became the most toxic form of populism, and its implemented with the simple idea of removing all control from the populous, with the goal of becoming immune to critique, and protect it's dictators as they live like kings, while the rest of the country starves.

Religion is corrupt
   And it almost does not matter which one. We are fully aware of how the Catholic church protected pedophiles for years, we are fully aware of how the church also gave Nazi Germany the names of Jews who would not convert away from their faith. We are also completely aware of how much power and money some churches have, and thus they also wield a lot of control in the political spectrum.

Most SJWs are toxic
   Maybe most is being a little too blunt, but at least we can say that there is a big cult that uses this label to further a distorted agenda. I don't even have to say too much about the subject because the videos are all there for us to see, we've all seen the redhead screaming, we've all seen the people flipping cars in the name of peace, its all there.

   The label just became a way for some of this people to justify their chaotic actions, thus never having to deal with the responsibility of acting unethical. "Well I had to punch them in the face, he's a white male and as such deserves it" Actual commentary made.

So whats this truth talk all about?

   I would say the goal here is to know which one we are about to debate on, so that we don't end up talking past each other. If I want to talk about the merit of let say my church, but you are stuck in how the crusades killed thousands in the name of Christ, we are simply not talking about the same thing, we are not talking about the same truth.

   Next time you are about to engage in argument, before you bust out your verbal katana, ask yourself....

Theoretical or Practical???

and adapt.... like a true ninja!