...No one desires the present unpleasantness. We sincerely wish that we could get along. However, most people want a quick fix....
...There is no quick fix. Something very profound needs to be sorted out, which makes our divisions difficult to resolve. Our postmodern times reject everything that takes effort and thought. They embrace all that is shallow and inconsequential. Many believe it is better to plod along cursing the polarization than light a candle of clarity that will require painful personal changes.
Thus, we remain mired in our postmodern crisis. We do not desire the clarity and certainty that produces harmony and truth. Instead, we prefer the dark and lazy ambiguity that allows every error to flourish and every contradiction to co-exist.
...Indeed, one major reason we do not understand each other is that the principle of contradiction is collapsing in our society. Saint Thomas Aquinas says this indispensable philosophical principle is the foundation upon which all thinking, doing and desiring is based. Today, it is at the core of our social incompatibility.
This principle of contradiction is the most universal of all judgments, and it can be stated simply as, “It is impossible for a thing to be and not be at the same time.” Another formulation says “that which is, cannot be that which is not.” It is also known as the law of non-contradiction.
...However, large sectors of the public have adopted an attitude that denies this principle. A climate of relativism pervades in which things are increasingly uncertain. It undermines ideas and concepts long accepted as true. It conspires against the permanency of our institutions.
This relativism posits the mistaken belief that each person develops and determines his or her own truth. When a significant portion of the population holds this view, it creates tension since these different “truths” contradict one another. Moreover, these contrary positions are forced to co-exist, even when this blending denies evident reality. When everyone can be both right and wrong at the same time, rational debate become untenable.
The more this relativism spreads, the more social life becomes difficult. For a long time, this relativism has eroded the social fabric of society and led to social disintegration. ...