Lying for the Cause

What Is the Truth . . . ?

When cultures figure that the Lord Jesus Christ is beneath them, certain consequences follow.  The West has largely decided for secular materialism, rejecting  the God who made and governs the heavens and the earth.  It's a rather stupid thing to have done.  But there we go.

One of the consequences which follows such hubris is that sins become the norm.  They become institutionalised.  It comes as a bit of a shock to some to learn that truth-telling is not necessary any more.  Nobody does it.  The truth is so passée.  The post-Christian culture engages in all sorts of weaselling to justify laying the truth to one side. "What is the truth?", it asks.  There are many truths, all valid; truth is perspectival and relative. 

When people have "big causes", truth must serve the cause--which is to say, propaganda tops truth every time.  Lying for the cause is endemic throughout our society.  It's the new norm.  Here is just one example of modernist "truth-telling".


When the New Zealand government decided that it would have a minor experiment with Charter Schools, the education establishment--statists all--had conniptions.  A propaganda war commenced, led by the teacher unions.  Charter schools represented a competitive threat, however innocuous, to monopolistic government schools.  One of the propaganda talking points has been over costs.  Charter schools succeed only if they get more state funding than regular schools.  The unions have repeated this lie relentlessly.

Now, of course, the unions know they are lying.  They know it is just untrue.  But truth is of no importance when the cause (in this case, protecting the jobs of state teachers) must be served and protected by all means possible.  The unions have deliberately confused start-up costs, with ongoing operational costs.  They know they are lying and dissembling.  Why would you want such people anywhere near classrooms or the education system?  But the unfortunate reality remains:  in large measure these people are the government schooling system.  But since they are thoroughly anti-Christian, lying can, and has, become the norm. 

One blogger has called them out for "pants on fire". 

For the first 4 Years of the first 5 schools the whole Charter School budget was $19 million (i.e. less than $5 million a year). Charter School start-up funding is approximately $1 million per school. [Whaleoil]

The writer then contrasts these costs with those for a brand new state primary school.

Education Minister Hekia Parata today announced that $20 million has been set aside for the establishment of a new primary school in Takanini, Auckland.  Takanini is a fast-growing suburb and anticipated population growth is expected to generate approximately 4000 additional pupils by 2020.

Ms Parata says Takanini is a sought-after area because of special housing and private land development and there is a need to cater to the booming school-aged population.  “The new school will be a fantastic addition to Takanini and will ease the pressure that current schools in the area would otherwise face,” says Ms Parata.The school is to be located on Walters Road and will open in 2017 for years 1-8.

$20 million in start up costs for one state school, compared with approximately $5m for five charter schools. 

Welcome to the glories of Unbelief.  Lying is the norm.  The truth is passée.  Anything for the cause--because, when people decide that there is no Eternal God to whom they must answer for all their sins, anything is possible.

As G. K. Chesterton put is: when people stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing.  They end up believing in everything.  Lying becomes the norm.  Welcome to the post-Christian modern world--and its schools.