A Noble Lie Is Still A Lie

August 18, 1991

[Attached: clipping from AP article by George W. Cornell, published in The Ledger, 7/20/1991, with highlighted quote from Loyal D. Rue, professor of religion and philosophy at Luther College: “... Rue suggests that we start all over, and create a new myth – a “noble lie” that squares with what is known scientifically, something that is convincing though it may not be factual.”]

Professor Rue has stated “noble” reasons for creating a manipulative lie. Perhaps he is correct in believing that the human creature cannot carry the burden of truth. I dissent. For much of my lifetime, a prime principle of Unitarian Universalism has been the “authority of truth, known or to be known.”

My disagreement with Mr. Rue has several roots:

First, he seems naïve about the efficacy of the old religious myths. In a world, where, in his words, “science has eroded the plausibility of the Judeo-Christian myths ...”, he suggests “a new myth, a noble lie ....” But the old hallowed myths never did inspire people to “compel us beyond self-interest, beyond ego, beyond family, nation, race... that will deceive us into the view that our moral discourse must serve the interests not only of themselves and each other, but those of the earth as well.” Take any century you choose: you will not discover those splendid universal goals dominating the actions of any power group, kingdom, nation or authoritarian religion, even though the Judeo-Christian myths were professed and, presumably, believed. The “noble” lie actually proposes a useful lie, but it is a pragmatic untruth. Pragmatism asks, “does it work?” That criterion cannot be demonstrated in history. Believing the myths did not deter war, cruelty, persecution, greed, lust for power and a host of other evils.

Second, the search for truth is not the failure that Mr. Rue implies. He seems to like a game of “Lies and Consequences” - I still choose “Truth and Consequences.” One admires a proclamation of the positive, but not when it is an unreal opiate. Some years ago, Bishop John A. T. Robinson wrote, “As one goes on, it is the things one doesn’t believe which are as liberating as the things one does.” (HONEST TO GOD)

Thus, Mr. Rue is too pessimistic about our human nature when he believes that without “integration of cosmology and morality ... people will deny fixed standards and do whatever they choose, splintering society.” Confronting and accepting what seems to be a morally neutral Cosmos does not mean we are “splintered.” In the face of the mammoth mystery, the Universe, we humans have freedom and power if we have the courage to think, speak, decide, in terms of our hopes and ideals for all people of the Earth. Maurice Maeterlink was on point, “to the sage the truth can never be bitter. He finds more pleasure in the attempt to understand that which is, than in the attempt to believe that which he desires. There is no gain in shutting out the world, Though it be a wall of righteousness.” (Quoted, Ernest Hocking, THE MEANING OF GOD IN HUMAN EXPERIENCE).

Then, too, I have much doubt that a satisfactory mythology can be whomped up just because many feel we cannot be sustained without it. It seems apparent that mythologies need ages to emerge and artists and scholars to interpret, frequently differing interpretations. A new mythology cannot be manufactured as readily as 1992 model autos replace the 1991s. I fear that a contrived mythology would be a hinge to close the door of reality.

What then is the prospect for men and women who see no charm in a “noble lie”? We might print our T-Shirts with a line from Shakespeare, “Then where is truth, if there be no self-trust”?

There are many foxes attacking the tender vines of our self-trust, our freedom, our human dignity. We must feel these values as more important to live by than a manufactured myth, however comfortable or convenient. W. H. Auden grasped that need in the last verse of his poem, “In Memory of W. B. Yeats”:

In the deserts of the heart
Let the healing fountain start,
In the prison of his days
Teach the free man how to praise.