What is truth?

George Orwell, writing at the close of the Second World War, draws some thought-provoking connections between totalitarianism, postmodernity and literature. He argues that the view that "all historical records are biassed and inaccurate" plays into the hands of the totalitarian state which demands "the continuous alteration of the past, and in the long run probably demands a disbelief in the very existence of objective truth" and may make it easy for such a government to "set us a schizophrenic system of thought, in which the laws of common sense held good in everyday life and in certain exact sciences, but could be disregarded by the politician, the historian, and the sociologist".1

He also argues that "good writing stops" in any society that not only permits falsification but insists that the false record be presented as true. This is because the presence of taboos dries up the creative impulse - "the imaginative writer is unfree when he has to falsify his subjective feelings, which from his point of view are facts . . . he cannot say with any conviction that he likes what he dislikes, or believes what he disbelieves"2. "To write in plain, vigorous language one has to think fearlessly, and if one thinks fearlessly one cannot be politically orthodox."3

My main response to all this is, gosh, it's a different world today, and we're blessed not to live in this sort of repressive climate. Yet even in this age of peace and political freedom we have taboos, and postmodern perspectivalism (is that a word?) can lead us to accept any interpretation of past events without pausing for critical reflection. As Christians, we need to resist these impulses and speak truth, with due sensitivity and picking our battles, but that should still be our aim.


1 G Orwell, "The Prevention of Literature" in Books v. Cigarettes (London: Penguin Books, first published 1946, here 2008), 28-29.
2 Ibid, 31.
3 Ibid, 33.