If you watch Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” then there’s no chance you’ve missed Colbert’s use of his self-created word “truthiness.” He originally coined the phrase on the premiere episode of the show late last year.
Said Colbert:
“I will speak to you in plain, simple English. And that brings us to tonight’s word: ‘truthiness.’ Now I’m sure some of the ‘word police,’ the ‘wordinistas’ over at Webster’s are gonna say, ‘hey, that’s not a word.’ Well, anyone who knows me knows I’m no fan of dictionaries or reference books. I don’t trust books. They’re all fact, no heart. And that’s exactly what’s pulling our country apart today. ’Cause face it, folks: we are a divided nation. Not between Democrats and Republicans, or conservatives and liberals, or tops and bottoms. No, we are divided between those who think with their head and those who know with their heart.
Of course, the concept is satiric and in reference to the quality by which a person claims to know something intuitively, instinctively or “from the gut” without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or actual facts.
“Truthiness,” it seems, is running rampant these days with activist anti-gay evangelicals.
A story with the following headline was forwarded to my email account recently: “Gay-Activist Intimidation Tactics Increasing.”
The story went on to point out how activist gays are on the warpath against anyone standing in their way, citing these key examples:
• Truthiness Version
Psychologist Michael A. Campion of Champaign, Ill., was temporarily suspended from his job with the Minneapolis Police Department doing psychological evaluations on police recruits, because gay activists objected to his relationship with the Illinois Family Institute — a pro-family group associated with Focus on the Family.
• Truthful Version
Campion, a former board member of the anti-gay Illinois Family Institute, was indeed suspended when it was learned that he had made negative comments about single parents.
The information came to the police review council from several people who had been refused jobs with the department. Whether any of those people are gay was not disclosed.
• Truthiness Version
In Sunrise, Fla., authorities are investigating an incident in which petition-gatherers for the Florida Marriage Amendment were reportedly ordered to stop soliciting signatures by a pro-gay Sunrise police officer, who also allegedly taunted and harassed them for their efforts.
• Truthful Version
A group of anti-gay evangelicals who are convinced that their belief system is infallible are using their religious beliefs as an excuse to promote bigotry and discrimination and deprive gays and lesbians of the same economic and governmental benefits they enjoy themselves. Sounds like the policeman in question — Sgt. Stephen Allen — just got plain tired of the hate and fired back.
• Truthiness Version
In Provincetown, Mass., this summer, homosexuals were accused of taunting and harassing heterosexual tourists, whom they called “breeders.” The Cape Cod beach resort is fast becoming known as a homosexual haven.
• Truthful Version
According to a report by the Associated Press, one woman, a resident who signed a petition against gay marriage, says she was berated as a bigot by a gay man. There is no evidence to substantiate that gangs of angry roving gays are tromping around Provincetown hurling verbal insults at any passerby they deem to be heterosexual. Provincetown, by the way, isn’t “fast becoming known as a homosexual haven.” Also known as P-town, it has attracted throngs of gays and lesbians for decades.
• Truthiness Version
A Colorado Springs, Colo., family had yard signs favoring traditional marriage stolen from their yard and a threatening note left behind.
• Truthful Version
A Colorado Springs family who believes that gays and lesbians should be deprived of the same economic and governmental benefits they enjoy themselves displayed their bigotry openly by putting an anti-gay sign in their yard. Feeling threatened, persecuted gays and lesbians removed the hateful signage.
That leaves us with a single, but very important question. How do we combat the lies and distortions?
By speaking out against it the minute something smells fishy. Do the research, go the source, find the real truth. And when you do, share it with anyone who will listen.
Only through our efforts to combat the evangelical right’s continued campaign of truthiness will the rest of the world come to know the reality of truthfulness. |
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