Does
everything that is presented as proof indicate a truth? My answer is a Yes.
In fact
all proofs indicate truth. The only difference between a false proof and a true
proof is that the false proof indicates a truth it claims not and a true proof
indicates a truth it claims to be.
Let me
illustrate by narrating an incident from the Old Testament of the Bible.
It is the
story of Joseph. He was spending his days as a slave in the house of the
Egyptian military officer Potiphar. He was such a handsome young man that
Potiphar’s wife took a fancy over him. She could not resist his physical
appearance. She invited him to have sex with her more than once. But he was a
Hebrew to his blood and was afraid of his living God. So he was not ready to
commit the sin. Moreover he considered it a crime against his master who had
trusted him so much to give him full freedom in the house. The lady did not
care about his religious beliefs and other moral excuses.
One day as
he was serving in the innermost chambers of the house, she caught hold him and
forced him to lay with her. He was such man of character that he did not yield
to the temptation. He forcefully pushed her aside and ran away from the place.
But she could catch hold of his outer garment. She tried to stop him by holding
on his outer garment and pulling him to her bed. There was no option left to
him to escape from her other than leaving behind the outer garment and running
away. And he did so. Joseph ran away from her. She had his outer garment in her
hands.
She was
furious, ashamed and frustrated. She decided to teach Joseph a lesson. Holding
up the garment she shouted for help as if someone is molesting her. Servants
ran to her. Her husband Potiphar rushed to her. She was in tears. She narrated
a false story to her husband that Joseph, the slave, tried to molest her in her
bed chamber and when she yelled out for help he left behind his outer garment
and escaped. She had the proof in her hand for the story. The proof indicated
that Joseph is a molester of women and a cheater of his master.
She had
the proof. Where did the proof lead others? Did the proof lead to the truth?
Certainly not. Still Joseph’s garment was a proof.
A proof
always stands for the truth. The proof stands for the truth that Potiphar’s
wife tried to seduce Joseph and when he did run away resisting the seduction,
she caught hold of his garments and it is left with her. The proof is the proof
of her adulterous attempt. The proof always indicates the truth.
Here we
find a lady using the proof to mislead others. She is using the same proof that
indicates a truth to mislead others to a false story. It is like a sign board
turned upside down by naughty boys. The sign board is telling the truth, but
since it was turned upside down by naughty boys, it is misleading people.
The truth
is that every proof can be misleading if it is manipulated by evil people.
Because proof itself does not lead anybody to the truth. All depends on how we
utilize the proof; who utilizes the proof and for what purpose the proof is
utilized.
So proofs
are not a sure way to truth.
Statistics
are not unfailing information to reach conclusions.
What we
see with our eyes, what we hear with our ears and what we feel with our senses
– all may fail to take us to the truth.
Consider
the story of Othello written by Shakespeare. Othello had enough proof that his
sweet wife Desdemona is unfaithful to his marriage bed. He saw proofs and he
heard proofs. But after murdering his innocent wife, he realized that all what
he heard and all what he saw were proof further manipulated by the villain. They
were proofs of the villainy of Iago, something he failed to realize.
So it is
wisdom to eye proofs with a doubting mind till we are convinced. How long it
will take to reach such a conviction. May be few weeks, may be few months and
may be years.
Still, let
us not forget that all proofs do not lead us to the truth.
Professor
Jacob Abraham
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