Who’s Telling the Truth?

Are we ever completely truthful to people?

I realize that this a fairly strong way to start a post, but I went through about ten different beginnings, and this was the only one I thought was was suitable enough. This thought has been seared in my mind for awhile - well, at least for the past two days – and the urge to write this down was exacerbated when I watched Munich earlier this evening.

For those of you who haven’t seen this film, it’s an espionage thriller based on the true story of the Israeli hostage crisis at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich, and the subsequent actions of the Mossad, Israel’s secret service.

While the very essence of espionage films is “who’s telling the truth?”, what set my thoughts in motion was the opening text, which stated the film was based on true events. But on whose account? Steven Speilberg, who directed the film? He obviously wasn’t around to see all of these things.

The film is an adaptation of the novel Vengeance, written by a Canadian journalist named George Jonas, who I’m pretty sure was not around to see the events of the movie transpire either. His book was based on the alleged accounts of someone who “claimed” to be in the Mossad.

The point that I am arriving at is that the facts – as they are presented in Munich – are circumstantial at best. Undeniably there was a hostage crisis in 1972, and there is documented evidence of the actions of the Mossad following the crisis. But there is no possible way to ascertain that everything that happened in the film is what actually happened.

Ultimately, whether or not the events in Munich are true goes beyond the scope of this post, but it does bring to light something important. The spies in Munich, no matter what faction they operated for, told lies (or at least didn’t tell the truth), because if they did, it would compromise their mission, or, to better configure with the terminology set in this post, their agenda.

But you don’t have to be a secret agent for this fact to be applicable to your life. Everyone has an agenda; being popular, getting ahead at the office, etc. And telling some people, even our friends, the truth could compromise our mission; our agenda.

It is said that the truth sets you free, but our world has a history of political, economical, and religious systems that are packed with lies and deceit, all with the purpose of carrying out an agenda that is supposed to protect us. Protect us from what? Danger? More lies? The truth? The unfortunate result of this is that it has given our society a sense of cynicism.

In spite of all this, though, I do believe that there is Truth, and it is something that I seek after more and more with each passing day. After all, if this world was nothing but lies and deceit, we would all be in a dire situation. I would encourage everyone I know to do likewise. If there is one thing that I have learned, though, it’s much easier to accept a lie than it is the truth.

Peace, my friends.