To Stand for Truth Is Nothing

Standing up for truth is a lot harder than it sounds.

It’s easy to visualize ourselves bravely making a principled stand for what is true.

But when the moment to speak up arrives, we quickly learn that telling the truth comes with a price.

Especially if the truth we’re speaking is an unpopular one.

That’s when many of us encounter real opposition for the first time in our lives.

From snarky online attacks to being hooted and jeered at by the crowd to risking prosecution and punishment—our commitment to truth can carry a price.

This is why Alexander Solzhenitsyn stated:

“To stand for truth is nothing. For truth, you must sit in jail.”

His point isn’t that we go out and try to get ourselves arrested.

It’s that the level of commitment required to speak the truth is a lot higher than what most people are willing to pay.

Faced with almost certain ridicule, rejection or punishment, it’s easy to understand why so many choose to remain silent.

It’s also a good reason to pay attention to those dissenting voices who are actually willing to suffer for their beliefs.

They are often the genuine article in a world of pretenders.

Too many of us act as if speaking popular platitudes or having the right avatar on our social media is the same thing as boldly defending the truth.

There’s a world of difference between risk-free emoting and being an authentic source of light. 

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