Winning Words 4/15/11
“The truth is more important than the facts.” (Frank Lloyd Wright) I’d hate to be a judge, and I’ve never served on a jury. Is right or wrong simply based on the facts, or is there a truth outside of the evidence? A few years ago there was a book, Situation Ethics, which caused much controversy. Are there certain behaviors that can be wrong and right at the same time? Maybe you want to think about this today. ;-) Jack

FROM RI IN BOSTON: Right, wrong, and truth are all manipulated. They change as human attitudes change over time. Regarding "certain behaviors that can be wrong and right at the same time", how about WikiLeaks? As for FLW, he more or less wrote the rulebook as it suited him. FROM JACK: Not only Frank LW, but we all tend to write (or interpret) the rule book to suit our own agenda. Yes, it called, "manipulation."

FROM FROM YOOPER FLICKA: WE WERE IN RACINE,WI BEFORE WE MOVED TO MARQUETTE. IT HAD SO MANY OF FLW'S BUILDINGS....EVEN JOHNSON WAX, ETC AND 5 GOLF COURSES... ON AND ON. SORRY TO GET OFF THE TRACK. FROM JACK: No, you're on the right track. The beauty of art and architecture is in the eye of the beholder. My eye says that Frank's style is pleasing to me, but some people don't always agree with me. And, that's the truth!

FROM CAROL IN MICHIGAN: Jesus said, "I am the truth, and the light and the way." So, the truth is always more important than the facts, because truth is God. FROM JACK: Christians say that "it's a fact" that Jesus is God. So is the truth a fact?

FROM MOLINER CF: "The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" may shed some light on it. I doubt that there is a fact that is not true but until we have all of the facts, we can't arrive at the truth. FROM JACK: Is there such a thing as the WHOLE truth?

FROM DS IN CALIFORNIA: I have always believed that the "law" (as I was taught in pre-law) has nothing to do with "common sense". I believe that more and more as I get older. Also, I have found that under certain circumstances I believe in Situation Ethics. (Is that being redundant?) FROM JACK: Some people have problems with the Ten Commandments, because they take them literally. In seminary, just in Law School, the question needs to be asked, "What does the law mean?" Often, the answer is, "It depends on the situation, hence, "Situation Ethics."

FROM LP IN MICHIGAN: Having just taught a session on hypothesis testing yesterday I'd have to say that facts are usually glimpes at a larger truth. Statistical testing is much like the jury system. We assume no association until we have sufficient evidence from our study. However, a study sample is still only gives a glimpse at the truth we desire from the whole population... and the facts of the sample can differ when compared to the truth of the population. I bet you didn't know statistics was so philosphical. :) FROM JACK: As a Philosophy Major, everything is philosophical...even statistics. Thanks for your insight. You seem to be a situational thinker.

FROM PRPH IN MINNESOTA: i read Situation Ethics in seminary, about 40 years ago! uffda. where does the time go?? FROM JACK: I went searching for my book. "Uffda. Where did the book go?" Well, I remember what the book had to say, and I think that it's relevant in today's world. Seminarians should still be reading it.

FROM BLAZING OAKS: I remember that book, Situation Ethics, from years and years ago. I think Bill was just in seminary, or at least a new pastor (He graduated from Seminary at age 30...). He thought it made a lot of sense! So much of what is right or wrong is imbued by our cultural background...I'll never forget talking to a Christian woman in India, and she confessed that she had "taken" two handfuls of rice from a marketplace, because her children were hungry, and they had no food....did I think God would forgive her?? (One of the ten commandments, "thou shall not steal"... ) I assured her that God who loves her, knew of her need, and understood her desperation, and of course could forgive her. We are his children, the very hairs on our head
are numbered; If one of her children were in such a situation would she not forgive THEM?! She seemed
relieved, though why she thought anyone from affluent America would understand this situational ethic and could pass judgement on it, was beyond me. What right had I??! I felt convicted because I didn't have to wrestle with such fine tuning of "right" and "wrong" in my comfortable living of the American Dream!! Truth, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder.As the King of Siam would say, (In The King And I) "Tiss a Puzzle!!!" FROM JACK: That's what I was trying to say.