CORRECTION, Sept. 8, 2023: According to First Coast News, the man who confronted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is Timothy Robinson of Jacksonville, a 57-year-old Air Force veteran. An earlier version of this article and its headline included an inaccurate description of Robinson. Both have been revised.
The argument about whether there is one truth or many goes back to ancient Greece.
Parmenides of Elea, who was active in the earlier part of the 5th century B.C., championed the one-truth theory well before the birth of Jesus.
He wrote, “We can speak and think only of what exists. And what exists is uncreated and imperishable for it is whole and unchanging and complete. It was not or nor shall be different since it is now, all at once, one and continuous.”
The many-truths notion got footing with Heraclitus, who was active around 500 B.C. Heraclitus believed that “everything is in constant flux” and contradictory propositions must be true.
The argument is alive and well today. Conservatives like Florida’s GOP governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis take up the position of Parmenides.
For example, DeSantis, when blamed for the horrific murders of three black people at the hands of a deranged racist killer in Jacksonville in August, retorted, “I am not going to let you accuse me of committing criminal activity … There is THE truth — it’s not everyone has their own truth …”
It happened Thursday at Culhane’s Irish Pub and Restaurant in Jacksonville, according to First Coast News, which identified the man accusing DeSantis as 57-year-old Timothy Robinson of Jacksonville.
The exchange was posted on X by DeSantis War Room.
? MUST WATCH ?
DeSantis SHUTS DOWN left-wing activist: “I am not going to let you accuse me of committing criminal activity. I am not going to take that!”
“There is THE truth — it’s not everyone has their own truth…You don’t get to come here and blame me for some mad man.” pic.twitter.com/SQ8zSKG54e
— DeSantis War Room ? (@DeSantisWarRoom) September 7, 2023
The person to blame for the racially motivated murder at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville was 21-year-old Ryan Palmeter, a racist who lived with his parents more than 15 miles from the shooting scene. Palmeter was armed with a Glock pistol and an AR-style rifle with swastikas. The gunman wrote several manifestos detailing his hatred of black people.
Palmeter was deranged, to put it mildly. DeSantis labeled the shooter a “coward” for committing suicide shortly after the murders.
NEW: Gov. Ron DeSantis denounces “coward” Jacksonville shooter who allegedly targeted Black people
“This guy killed himself rather than face the music. He took the coward’s way out. We condemn what happened in the strongest possible terms.”pic.twitter.com/IuZ5y3y5cj
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) August 26, 2023
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, who is black, defended DeSantis and called the actions of those who try to spin tragedies like the Jacksonville mass shooting for political gain “immoral.”
WATCH: @FLSurgeonGen Joseph Ladapo slams audience member for trying to blame Ron DeSantis for a recent Jacksonville shooting
“It’s terrible […] It’s immoral […] They try to take advantage of the governor just because he’s not the same color as these people [the victims].” pic.twitter.com/x66tS2vAbc
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) September 7, 2023
Ladapo further characterized the many-truth proponents, like the person who attacked DeSantis, as trying to “hide reality” to spin it so you will buy the lie they are trying to sell. He also accused them of trying to take advantage of DeSantis for being white instead of black, like the victims.
In other words, the accuser’s truth is that DeSantis must be guilty because he is white. That’s racist.
Progressives gravitate toward Heraclitus’ many-truth stance because through it, they are allowed to define “reality” as they see fit. Instead of living in and navigating the reality they are given by God, they seek to create it. In other words, they each want to play the part of God. Sound familiar? Think Lucifer.
Progressives band together politically to perpetuate their lies but, in the end, they will turn on one another. They have to. It’s inherent in their philosophy.
In reality, there can only be one truth and that truth is God. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6) The Father is the One accessed through the triune nature of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Humans don’t create truth, they strive for it. Having a different perspective on a painting like Edvard Munch’s The Scream is one thing. Some may love it, some might hate it and others might not give two cents one way or the other. But to claim the painting isn’t a painting, but a figment of the imagination or a rock, is quite another. It’s called insane.
Just because insanity is the norm in progressive circles doesn’t make it sane. Thank goodness there are people like Ron DeSantis, who are willing to stand up to the madness and call it what it is. “There is THE truth” and no other.
Philosophy matters, and Parmenides was not insane.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
