"truth (noun): the quality or state of being true; (also, the truth): that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality."
—The New Oxford Dictionary of English
The Bible (John 8:32) says "The truth shall make you free." Freedom sounds good to me, as does the state of being true and in accordance with fact or reality. Freedom and truth sound like a healthy way to live. It follows that any person who speaks respectfully of freedom without a like respect for truth, fact or reality is, to put it mildly, not living in a quality or state of being true. That's an ugly, destructive and definitely unhealthy way to live.
Not that the truth is always easy. Sometimes it's hard to know what is true and what is not, even when it's not being purposely obscured. Sometimes the truth is hard to see, hard to understand, hard to accept, hard to speak.
When it is inconvenient, embarrassing or threatening to power, it can be dangerous to see, understand, accept and speak the truth. Speaking truth to power may be the most courageous, compassionate action a concerned citizen of the world can take. Power corrupts. Truth cleanses. Whatever else it may be, that which is not in accordance with fact or reality is not the truth, and, whatever else it may be, freedom without truth is not freedom.
Such philosophical musings come naturally to anyone who follows the mental/ethical/truth contortions performed daily by all too many of the major political gymnastic stars of Washington, Moscow, London, Tokyo, Beijing, Baghdad and other world centers of power. As an American, I can say that the political gymnasts of Washington have no peers in the world.
But the significance of the act of speaking truth to power has been underscored by a remarkable book, "Speak Truth to Power," that I've been slowly and carefully reading and contemplating for several months. "Speak Truth to Power" was written by Kerry Kennedy, the seventh child of the late Robert Kennedy, with photographs by Eddie Adams. The book, besides being informative, inspiring and true, is recommended reading for anyone who is interested in making a difference in the world, how to do that, who is doing it and why, and what are some of the consequences and rewards.
The book consists of 50 interviews Kennedy conducted over two years with human rights defenders from 35 countries on five continents. Adams won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for photography for his famous photo of the Saigon chief of police murdering a Viet-Cong prisoner by shooting him in the head at point-blank range. Adams has lost none of his skill or clarity of vision in the intervening years, and his portraits that accompany the text of this book are compelling. Kennedy, herself a human rights defender of both stature and accomplishment, "examines the quality of courage with women and men who are dramatically changing the course of events in their communities and countries," according to the book's jacket liner. "Courage is one of the qualities held in common by these 50 people, each of whom articulates with inspiration what it is he and she does, why, what it means, some of the consequences and some of the dangers. Speaking truth to power can get a person imprisoned, raped, tortured, beaten and even killed."
Some of the people Kennedy interviews are famous: The Dalai Lama, Oscar Arias Sanchez, Vaclav Havel, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Desmund Tutu and Elie Wiesel. Most are not. All of them offer valuable insight into the abuse of power in the world and the workings of the human spirit that is the antidote to that abuse.
One of them, Jose Zalaquett of Chile, says, "The important thing is not to let your heart grow cold while keeping your head cool. If you let your head become as impassioned as your heart, you run unnecessary risks and do not serve people well."
Another, Wei Jingsheng of China, says, "If you do not fight tyranny, the tyrants will never let you have an ordinary life. You must either surrender to them, or dedicate your life to something greater ... Even the policemen in my prison ... asked me for advice because they knew that I would tell them the truth. If you do that consistently, you can go anywhere. It reconciles people."
Martin O'Brien of Northern Ireland says, "You don't live your life in fear and give people power over you who want to create fear ... It would be better to die early than to refrain from doing things because you are fearful about the consequences."
One of my favorites, Judge Baltasar Garzon of Spain, was responsible for the arrest of the cowardly and brutal Gen. Augusto Pinochet in England in 1998. Pinochet was eventually released to Chile because of failing health, but Garzon had set the precedent that heads of state are not above the law and can be tried for torture, genocide and other crimes against humanity. That's a good precedent in terms of human rights and certainly speaks truth to power.
Kerry Kennedy writes in the introduction to her book, "In a world where there is a common lament that there are no more heroes, too often cynicism and despair are perceived as evidence of the death of moral courage. That perception is wrong."
Her book proves it and is powerful, inspiring, truthful reading. Check it out.
Dick Dorworth
