I began this essay with the above title three days ago and have been mired down in other ideas that title implies.  These other ideas will be treated in different essays in days to come.  I might have to take a side trip from my usual comments on issues, ideas and reflections on the times because we are taking a real big trip to Australia and New Zealand next Tuesday.    

“Preaching the Gospels”, should make you ask – which ones? Other writings by the followers of Jesus or those who lived in his time were not allowed in the New Testament.  What about these excluded writings and what about other apocryphal contemporary material that is out there? We are fed a lot of edited and selective beliefs as truth. Any final document that results after perhaps centuries of study and debate must surely be a compromise.  What is truth?

“Teaching to the Test” brings up the question, “What does the test tell us about students’ knowledge and understanding?” What about the test items that did not fit in among the 10, 25, 50 or 100 question tests? Isn't education rigged so the student knows which questions will be asked so he/she can study just those? What is true and what is false? This is often just a matter of a word or two.

Have all the reporters reported all the facts in any specific story? When an incident happens and a reporter asks one witness questions, are these the best questions that could have been devised? Is the incident fully reported? What if there was a better, different witness and this one was missed or ignored? The truth may have not been reported.

When a cola soda is introduced, like “Coca Cola”, why is there only one chief competitor, Pepsi?  What happened to all the other options? Why are there only the top two dueling for our affections? Is there truth in advertising?

When it comes to laws, why are laws favoring the rich and powerful the only ones capturing the time and attention of our employees in the government? Where are laws HELPING the middle class, the poor, needy and those unable to help themselves? The truth is that money and power speak while the rest are mute.

The rich and powerful pass easily through our legal system while others are ignored. Whether it is the Gospels, tests, colas or laws, we are subject to mind control by our ministers, leaders and teachers AND politicians. The truth is finessed, left out or twisted.