With the Internet era and social media and politics being so out

“With the Internet era and social media and politics being so out there with the lies, now you've got people denying things they're on camera doing, and then you've got people not really caring about the truth. You've got people supporting people who've done horrific things, but just don't want the other side to get any satisfaction.” Thus speaks Ricky Gervais, and though his words are clothed in the garments of our age, the spirit within them is ancient. He laments not merely a season of folly, but a sickness that has plagued mankind since the dawn of speech—the battle between truth and falsehood, between the reality that is and the illusion we wish to believe.

The Internet and social media have not birthed this struggle, but they have magnified it, placing it before all eyes. Where once liars needed shadows to hide, now they proclaim their denials even as the evidence stands plain, recorded in sound and vision. And what is worse, says Gervais, is not the lie itself, but the apathy of the people—souls so hardened by division, so consumed by rivalry, that they care not whether their champion is righteous or corrupt, so long as the other side is denied its triumph. This is not merely dishonesty; it is the death of reverence for the truth itself.

The ancients too knew this peril. In the final days of the Roman Republic, Marcus Tullius Cicero warned of demagogues who twisted the crowd with lies, who turned citizens against one another until the truth no longer mattered. He spoke, pleaded, thundered with reason, but the mob followed not reason, only faction. The result was ruin: the Republic fell, civil war raged, and the age of Caesars began. Rome traded liberty for the comfort of illusions. Thus do Gervais’ words echo across centuries, warning that when people cease to love truth for its own sake, empires stumble into darkness.

Yet there is also hope in such teachings. For though falsehood may spread like wildfire, truth remains like the stone foundation beneath the ashes. History shows us not only the triumph of deceit but also the vindication of reality. Think of Galileo Galilei, who stood before the might of the Church and was forced to recant the truth of the Earth’s motion. Yet centuries later, the truth emerged victorious, brighter than ever, while the voices of denial faded into dust. Those who stand with truth may be scorned for a season, but in the fullness of time, reality reclaims its throne.

What then must we do in an age where lies are celebrated, and the people cheer for the false if it humiliates their rivals? We must become guardians of the truth. We must refuse to share what we know is false, even if it flatters our cause. We must resist the temptation to excuse corruption merely because it serves our tribe. For wisdom teaches that no cause, however noble it claims to be, can stand if it is built on lies. Lies are sand; the truth is stone. Only upon stone can a lasting future be built.

Let this be your daily practice: before you speak, before you share, before you lend your support, ask yourself: “Is this true?” And if you cannot answer with certainty, let silence guard your lips. Teach your children to revere truth, not victory. Celebrate honesty even when it wounds you, for in its wound there is healing. Shun the easy path of tribal hatred, for it leads only to ruin; embrace instead the harder path of integrity, for it alone leads to peace.

And so, O seekers, remember Ricky Gervais’ warning. Truth is not a trinket to be cast aside when inconvenient; it is the very lifeblood of justice, the heartbeat of civilization. If the people cease to care for truth, then society becomes but a mask of chaos, a hollow shell filled with noise and rage. But if even a few souls stand steadfast in honesty, the flame of wisdom shall not be extinguished. Therefore, let each of you be such a flame, so that the fire of truth may yet illumine the generations to come.