·God is honored for what he keeps secret [L It is the glory of God to hide a matter/things; Deut. 29:29].
Proverbs 25:2, Expanded Bible
·Kings are honored for what they can discover [L It is the glory of kings to examine them].
First Pepperpot: How does Doctor bloody Bernofsky know which zoo it came from?
Monty Python’s Flying Circus, “The Death of Mary, Queen of Scots”
Second Pepperpot: He knows everything.
First Pepperpot: Oooh, I wouldn’t like that, that’d take all the mystery out of life.
Dearest Rachel –
We never saw the movie when it came out (and never saw it thereafter), but I don’t know anyone who doesn’t recognize the courtroom scene in “A Few Good Men,” where Tom Cruise’s Lt. Kaffee has Jack Nicholson’s Col. Jessup on the stand. Upon being asked if he had ordered the Code Red (an unauthorized, covert disciplinary action) that killed Pvt. Santiago for having gone outside of the chain of command to report his sergeant about an illegal shooting incident (it doesn’t seem that the action was meant to kill him, just from dispassionately reading about it, though) – which the judge in the court martial instructs the colonel that he doesn’t have to answer – Jessup, after asking Kaffee several times if he really wants the answer to his question (until Kaffee finally demands that “I want the truth!”), retorts with the famous line: “You can’t handle the truth!”
That assertion has always stuck in my craw, honey, albeit outside of the specific context of the scene and the screenplay. Who has any right to determine who can or can’t “handle the truth”?
You and I didn’t so much grow up with it, but we watched (and participated in) the nascent days of the internet, being born and staggering to its feet much as (and at the same time as) our son Daniel. You’ll remember the motto of those wild West days, “information wants to be free,” which could – and was – taken in multiple ways. The idea that knowledge and understanding ought to be kept from people (or even hidden behind a paywall – after all, we were already paying for access to this international network of computers we were plugged into! Why should we have to pay extra for the data it brought us on top of that fee?) was all but anathema to netizens of the day, and still rankles those of us who drove along the information superhighway back when it was still very much under construction.
So to be told that we “can’t handle the truth” strikes me – and I can’t imagine I’m alone in thinking this way – as peak arrogance. Who are you to say that I can’t be informed about this or that subject, especially if it’s the truth? Why would a lie be preferable, or even easier, to give me than the honest alternative? How dare you set yourself up as the gatekeeper of truth, when on a cosmic level, your intelligence really isn’t that much greater than mine?
Look, I understand that certain subjects have to be introduced to us gradually. For instance, one cannot wrap one’s head around subjects like calculus, differential equations, or matrix analysis unless one has been taught simpler subjects, such as algebra and trigonometry – and before that, the most basic building blocks of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. And this sort of gradual buildup of lesson upon lesson is necessary in every field of study, not just mathematics (although it has the most obvious series of disciplines, and hews most closely to the concept of absolute truth. One always equals one, after all; it cannot be zero or two, no matter how often the Party insists otherwise. If you fudge your equations, your results will be useless for the purpose you intend them to be).
In the same manner, certain topics are not meant for a mind that isn’t ready for it. Certain topics are meant for certain ages, and not before, lest the child act on impulses toward what we might consider “adult” topics in a way that isn’t appropriate for one of that age. And while that may be a blurry line, imposed by society – certain children can learn and understand these things, and when they are and aren’t appropriate, sooner than their peers – the fact of the matter is that it’s generally agreed that there is a point at which certain topics shouldn’t be introduced just yet. Later, yes, but not at this age.
I can even understand the need for state secrets; nations aren’t always on the best of terms with each other (and some nations don’t seem to even be on good terms with themselves), and telling each other everything (especially if it’s not reciprocated absolutely) is a dangerous thing. Full disclosure of one’s weaknesses, especially to a hostile entity, is a national suicide pact. If we were all virtuous and empathetic, full honesty would indeed be the best policy (well, if all of us were all-virtuous, honesty would be the only policy in any event, and we wouldn’t have enemies to conceal anything from), but we don’t live in that world, and never have nor will. Some things need to be classified, when all is said and done, although I think that less of them need to be than are.
But to sit there and state, categorically, that this truth or that is beyond one’s comprehension or ability to accept – and that it should not be divulged – is just presumptuous, and it gets under my skin. One human, whose intelligence is roughly equal to any other’s, doesn’t have the right to gatekeep everyone else from discovering the truth about some matter, if they want to know.
I confess that I even have difficulty with the concept of God concealing Truth from us. How is He glorified by our not being able to understand Him and His works? Wouldn’t it be easier for us to follow Him and His wishes if we knew more about what they were? I get that He makes it fairly plain in general…
The Lord has told you, ·human [T O man], what is good;
Micah 6:8, Expanded Bible
He has told you what ·He wants [the Lord requires] from you:
to do what is ·right to other people [just],
love ·being kind to others [mercy; lovingkindness],
and ·live humbly, obeying [walk humbly with] your God.
…but on matters of what we assume He would consider of little import, He is silent, even as these decisions are crucial in our own lives: what school to attend, what to major in. Consider that, a change in either of these would have caused us to never meet. And yet, without an “Arthur, King of the Britons” moment, we stumbled into each other. Was that His will, and He just decided not to explicitly say anything? Was it a mistake? After all, without me in your life, you might still be alive, having never even known about the camp at which you suffered your fatal accident in this timeline.
Then again, maybe the pepperpots had it right; if we knew everything, there would be no mystery, no sense of wonder about life and the world around us. If everything was revealed to us, we wouldn’t be in such awe of God, as we would understand and have an explanation for everything He had created. Or would we be that much more impressed with what He designed, as we do now with each peek further behind the curtain? I really don’t know; these are truths that He has, in His infinite wisdom, determined I can’t handle… yet.
Until He decides to reveal Himself further, though, keep an eye on me, honey, and wish me luck. I think I’m going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 