America’s Truth Crisis
Take a good look around. The things that used to keep American society together, things like logic, facts, and reality, are stretched so thin they're about to break. This wasn't some random accident or a plot by another country. It's a slow-motion collapse happening right here, a wound that many Americans seem okay with, and sometimes even cheer on.
Who's to blame? Well, lots of people played a part, but let's not pretend that one single person is responsible. Since roughly 2018, various celebrities (starting with Oprah) have told millions that “Your truth” is the most powerful tool we all have. A trap for public conversation. What could have been a push for honesty turned into a widespread excuse for being selfish and destroying real knowledge.
Let's be real: your truth is like a sneaky trick. It didn't really make the marginalized individuals stronger; it gave everyone, no matter what, permission to act like their feelings are facts. The message? Evidence doesn't matter, and agreeing on things is old-fashioned. If something hurts your feelings, just say it's violence. If you don’t want people looking too closely at you, claim you’re offended.
But the damage isn't just hurt feelings. It's that whole systems are losing their strength. Debating ideas, something that built up democracy over centuries, has turned into a game where the winner is whoever screams they're the most upset. Now, questioning someone's view, even if it's completely crazy, is seen as an attack. Truth isn't about what's real anymore, but about who feels the most hurt.
This isn't about politics, or liberals versus conservatives, or faith versus science. It's about purposely destroying the idea that there's a real world outside of our own desires. Every day, Americans argue not about what policies to have, but about what basic things mean, unable to agree on simple words or events.
Before I get into social media and the role it plays on society, I have to be honest for a moment. It's weird for me to even write about the subject, and the irony isn’t lost on me. I work in digital production, and the agency I own and operate could be seen as part of the problem. Every ad campaign, every post that goes viral, every bit of data we look at keeps these social media platforms running. In a lot of ways, I'm helping to keep this culture of fake realities and online echo chambers going. Maybe that's why I feel like I need to say something. Being on the inside and seeing what it does makes it impossible to ignore. Every app, every scroll, every algorithm makes people more selfish. The internet was supposed to connect everyone, but instead, it locked us in rooms where we just tell ourselves we're right. Echo chambers aren't a mistake; they're how these companies make money. TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, they all give you what feels good, giving you anger and support in equal amounts. Forget about being tough. If you're sad, angry, or paranoid, there's a community for that. Social media has become like a church and a confession booth all in one. Your algorithm is your priest. Your feed is your holy book. Wanting everyone to agree with you, wanting to feel seen, wanting no one to challenge your views, these are now seen as good things. To doubt is a sin.
And let’s talk about schools. These days, they're a minefield where you have to be careful with feelings. Teachers aren't there to teach; they're like negotiators, carefully planning lessons so no one gets offended. Education, which used to be about challenging you to think, is now just about making you feel good. Students aren't taught to think; they're told to honor their truth and run away if they feel uncomfortable. Being serious about learning isn't just seen as old-fashioned, it's seen as mean.
Therapy language, which is supposed to help you heal, is used as an excuse to be scared of thinking and to act like you're always a victim. Talking about processing trauma, holding space, and creating safe environments has become a way to avoid reality. Instead of helping young Americans deal with hard facts, they're given lines to shut down debate before it even starts.
Mainstream media and journalism is no better. News companies used to keep an eye on those in power, but now they just twist stories until the audience feels good, no matter if it's true. Opinion pieces are sold as news, and being fair is thrown out the window in favor of making people feel good. “Everyone's truth” is not just okay but treated as important, and if you challenge any of it, you're looked at as a bigot.
And what about the church? It was supposed to stand strong in the face of cultural problems and preach unchanging truth, but its silence during this collapse is really noticeable. Instead of keeping society grounded in the teachings of Jesus Christ, the church has often cared more about fitting in than speaking clearly. Too many have traded solid truth for feel-good messages, watering things down so they don't offend anyone. Jesus said clearly, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6). This is the most important thing to remember. It’s a message that can’t be faked or changed to fit what you want. Yet the church has often failed to live by or speak this truth strongly. Paul warns in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 that there will be a time when people won't want to hear good teaching but will find teachers who say what they want to hear, turning away from the truth to made-up stories. Sadly, that time is now. Many churches have become part of the problem by not telling the truth strongly, which is dangerous for the culture they were supposed to improve. Without the church standing up for real truth based on Christ, this void has been filled with different truths that are just based on feelings, leaving America lost in a sea of chaos.
The result is that America is losing its shared sense of reality. The country doesn't debate policies or what's right and wrong anymore; it argues over fake ideas. Each person, acting like they know everything, changes reality to fit their mood and then demands that everyone else accept this new version. But when everyone is preaching their own message, truth becomes impossible to find, because there's only ONE message that really matters. The message and truth of Jesus Christ.
The answer isn't to stop people from speaking, but it does mean we need to face something painful together: comfort and truth can't both be priorities. Real facts don't care about your past, what offends you, or your plans to find yourself. Believing in comforting lies might feel good, but it's destroying democracy from the inside out.
Until the nation can handle facts that are inconvenient, until it accepts that truth is often uncomfortable, sometimes painful, and always out there, every argument will just turn into a shouting match over what's real, and every system is one emotional breakdown away from collapsing.
We don't need more nice sayings. We need to be honest. We need to go back to the basics. We need Jesus. By choosing your truth over THE truth, America is destroying its own foundations and celebrating while it does it.
