Truth Starts with Disagreement

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

And truth dies with conformity

Often times what we consider “truth” is just one perspective on the greater whole (see the Blind men and an elephant parable for a wonderful example of this).

The only way to get closer to a complete picture is through freely sharing our perspective and listening to the thoughts of others. We often avoid this because it may create conflict.

But truth is found in the conflict — Oftentimes, truth lives in-between the tension of two ideals.

Take my Christian upbringing, for example -

• Am I supposed to “Let [my] light shine before men, that they may see [my] good works”? (Matthew 5:16)
• Or, am I supposed to “do not [my good works] before men, to be seen of them”? (Matthew 6:1)

Truth lies in the tension between those two principles.

And we tease that truth out via open and respectful dialog, recognizing that the point of any disagreement is not to “win”, but instead to co-discover the true, underlying principle.