Why We Sometimes Hate the Truth

By  Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo

Truth is absolutely necessary to the mind as food is to the body.  But if truth is the food of the mind, how can we become mentally anorexic at times, and hate it?  How is dishonesty even possible?

According to St. Thomas Aquinas it may happen in 3 ways that some particular truth is repugnant or hurtful to us.

First, man sometimes hates a particular truth when he wishes that what is true in front of him were not true.

Second, when a person does not want to know the truth of faith, that he may sin freely, in whose person it is said “We desire not the knowledge of your ways, Oh God” (Job 21:14).    Third, we hate a particular truth when it is possessed by another person or by others.

The first case is a denial of reality.  We want something or someone to be something else rather than the truth that’s in front of us.  An example of this would be making excuses for having failed in an exam.  We tell ourselves and others that the exam given was too hard when the truth was, we did not study.

Or when we discover someone close to us is doing something bad or find out from others a not so welcoming trait of that person, whom we very much love, that we turn a blind eye instead of trying to correct that person.  And if that person is a political personality or candidate, we make excuses for him or her that those who say bad things about him or her are just jealous or hurling false accusations even though there are a lot of proof that the so-called bad things are true.

The second is a case of not wanting to know the teachings of the faith because it goes against one’s lifestyle.  Some commandments of God might prohibit some actions. And so as not to feel guilty, it’s better to stay away from religion.

It’s akin to avoiding seeing a doctor because we might find out the real state of our health, and get worried that the doctor might tell us to avoid some food or vices that we are not willing to give up (even though we already feel some unhealthy symptoms).  God is a doctor who wants to heal us and the commandments are the rules for a healthy lifestyle of the soul.

The third case is when someone or some people know an ugly truth about us that we don’t want to be known.  And so as not to reveal the dark side about us, we usually threaten some harm on that person who knows our bad deeds.  Killings have happened in some cases of this just to hide the truth.

Nobody hates all truth but only some particular truth in the same way that we don’t hate all food but only some particular food.  But we can hate a particular truth even though it is good for us, as we can hate a particular food even though it is good for us.

A particular truth might shock our feelings even though it is good for us to know it, as spinach, yogurt or bitter medicine may shock our taste buds, even though it is good for us to eat it.

We have to love the truth no matter how much it hurts us, because the truth will always lead us to our own good and the good of others, in the same way as the true state of our health will lead us to a healthy body if we apply the remedy to the sickness that’s discovered in our body.   “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)