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Truth and Power



 

In the age of fake news where the most powerful person in the free world is consciously lying all the time, finding truth might be harder than we thought.

In truth, lies the power to change the world for good. Sadly, truth doesn’t always go hand in hand with the powerful. Powerful individuals or bodies have too much to lose. They tend to fear the truth of 'provocative' injustice, which makes us started questioning instead of obeying them. We can clearly see some powerful people feel threatened by truth.

For instance, let’s take a look at SN, Indonesian House of Representative speaker and graft suspect on the e-ID corruption case. SN thought he could got away with his lies by keep bailing out from KPK’s inquiry.

Recently, Indonesian children was also in shock with the fact that P, a children facilitator and a leader of a well-known environmental organization, have molested 9 underage boys since 2013. P manipulated those boys by abusing his power as a public sweetheart. Just like SN, P thought he would got away with his lies.

Both SN and P were confident enough to keep lying and doing crimes because they believed power made them untouchable. They thought they were being confident by using their powerful positions to avoid truth. But actually, their attempt to run away from their crimes were clearly a sign of fear. As powerful individuals, they had too much to lose. They were afraid that truth will strip them off from their power, privilege and reputation.

Even though most people thought SN and P was untouchable, but truth will find its way. Eventually, some fearless people will rise as truth seekers. Like a few weeks ago, KPK fearlessly took SN in custody after his countless attempt to bail out. Balikpapan police also arrested P, with the help of Lentera Anak Foundation and local government officials who gathered evidences from the fearless victims of P.

Some people might say that these truth seekers were flying too close to the sun like Icarus. Nevertheless, they knew what they were doing. They knew the risk they had to pay to seek truth, and they did it anyway. As truth seekers, they weren’t afraid, for truth is their power, not their weaknesses.

Humanity is built on trust and hope. Trust to count on each other, and hope for a better world. Oftentimes, truth makes us question the integrity of powerful people and the institutions they represent. We lost trust. We lost hope. Even some of us could be in denial, when we know our idols are as guilty as charged. But we have to remember that everyone is essentially human. Human makes mistakes, even the most powerful ones. Only by acknowledging the imperfection of everyone, can we give a room for truth in our eyes.

Truth is supposed to set us free from fear and lies, not the other way around. Never fear truth. Never let anyone take it away from us, no matter how powerful their positions are. Because when we take away truth from our lives, what is left for us is lies. And lies will only breed fear, for we will not be able to trust each other. 

Any relations, whether it’s the one between organization members, people to government, or even among friends and family, shouldn't be built under fear and lies. Aside from turning us against each other, fear and lies will deprive us from the best version of our humanity.

Whenever we feel overwhelmed by powerful people with their fear and lies, just remember that there are always some truth seekers around us, ready to collaborate for justice. We only need to have the courage to speak up. Once we have spoken, the whistle of war is blown. Truth will wage war against fear and lies of the powerful, and it is a war that is always worth fighting for.

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Versi Bahasa Indonesia bisa ditemukan di sini.

Comments

  1. Gatari Dwi Hapsari6 December 2017 at 05:18

    Agreed kqkk, kak tolong buat indo version yaa

    Biar banyak yg bisa paham hehehe thanks ka gian

    ReplyDelete

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