Godspy notes "The Fight for Truth", by Paul Chu

Right here.

Mr. Chu uses a lot of words to say that walking the walk requires more than just talk and "example." Truth requires a fundamental commitment that results in integrity, the matching our action to our words, our behavior to our ideas. Still, he makes some good points:

Personal certitude, and the witness of example—what the Scholastics called moral truth, the correspondence of our external actions to the truth within. And this is perhaps the thorniest truth of all—for this is where we run the risk of being neither soldiers nor explorers but actors or even play-actors, grimly determined to "set a good example"—more or less what our Lord referred to as "whitened sepulchers." As if truth needed an advertising agency! This perversion of the witness we are supposed to be giving reveals an unnerving vulnerability in us.

Good example is not some kind of promotional campaign. Good example is the natural consequence of good order in the mind and heart. And the commonality between all the sword-swinging and exploring and advertising that we do about truth is revealed as a twofold insecurity.

Integrity is the best witness to the Truth. When we live that "good order in the heart and mind", then our action naturally follows our deeply held beliefs. Such commitment to reality keeps us whole, for when we live in Truth, we live with God, who is Truth!

That part of Mr. Chu's reflection makes sense. This part doesn't:

The truth is not simply going to go away if we stop banging it into people's heads, mauling it over with our grubby little minds, buying (or being) billboards with favorite formulations emblazoned in five-foot-high letters—or simply holding our collective breaths and believing it as hard as we can. Truth is tough; it's much tougher than we are.

He appears to dismiss the efforts of those that proclaim truth as a vain attempt to validate truth. He appears to believe that such spokespersons don't honestly believe that Truth will stand unless they shout it from the rooftops. He wrongly believes, imho, that they're trying to protect God. They're not.

No, what those called to witness to the truth--whom the Church properly calls "prophets"--try to do is protect people. From themselves. For too often, people follow every phantasm of the heart and mind as though it were an incarnation of the gospel. They ignore Christ in their pursuit of Truth! I'm sure we're all painfully aware of what happens when we run away from God in the pursuit of anything. This is what prophets hope to spare people from. That's why they do their song and dance.

When too many people ignore the truth in pursuit of their favorite illusion, society decays. We see it every day. Darfur is ignored while Jennifer Aniston covers the gossip pages. WYD's true story is ignored while dissenters' irrelevent protests carry the coverage. Our society's very language demonstrates the corruption we experience; the phrase "abortion rights" is one sad example. Should those that witness to the Truth not boldly proclaim what they've experienced?

If those lost in the wilderness suddenly encountered help, should they not spread that message to others who are lost? Or should they keep it to themselves?

I certainly respect Mr. Chu's caution regarding our proper reception of Truth. No one is served by self-proclaimed prophets that talk what they can't walk. However, for those that have been convinced of the Truth, to remain silent would be to bury their talent in the ground. The Master will rightly not tolerate such an abuse of his gift. Neither should we.