What’s True for You is True for Me
Yet, by far, the most popular thing people say about truth is this: “What’s true for you isn’t true for me.” With all due respect, this makes no sense. After all, if something is true, it describes the actual state of things. Gravity doesn’t play favorites. If you jump off of a cliff, it isn’t going to end well. Thinking you can fly won’t make a difference. In other words, if something is true for me, it’s true for you.
For example, let’s say I like chocolate ice cream more than vanilla ice cream. Naturally, it’s true for everybody that I like chocolate ice cream more than vanilla ice cream. It doesn’t matter what you believe, or what culture you’re from, it’s absolutely true for everybody that I like chocolate ice cream more than vanilla.
Of course, if what’s true for one person isn’t true for someone else, why teach anyone about anything? If people believe the Space Needle is in Montana, why tell them they’re wrong? It’s what’s true for them, so why bother arguing? On top of that, why have laws? If it’s true for someone that murder is good, wouldn’t laws against murder be discriminatory?
Regardless, people frequently take this line of thought and conclude “all religions lead to God.” Obviously, this is false, because all religions frequently contradict one another. Put differently, you can take your ‘coexist’ bumper sticker and toss it, because it should read ‘contradict.’ Still, some individuals might ask “Don’t all religions really just teach the same thing?” That’d be a no. Indeed, Muslims believe in one God, Mormons believe in many gods and atheists claim there is no God. There can’t be one God, many gods and no God at the same time. Since these religions can’t all be true, they can’t all lead to God. Only one belief about God is true. Which one is it? Well, to understand why we’re here, we also have to know how we got here. Where did we come from? There are only two explanations, and the more popular of the two is evolution.