Can Salvo Be Nice?

It All Depends on What You Mean

Nowadays, someone describing you as nice is considered a compliment. But I didn't know until a few years ago that our word "nice" has a surprisingly long history, going all the way back to the Latin word nescius, which means "not to know," best translated as "ignorant" or "unaware." (To find out how the meaning of "nice" has changed, read Rick Reed's Decode on page 11.)

Obviously, no one wants to be considered "nice" in the ancient Latin sense of "ignorant." On the other hand, you've also heard people say, "Ignorance is bliss." Clearly, there is information we all need to know, information that is superfluous to most of us (e.g., quantum physics), and information that may be harmful to know (e.g., violent images of a murder scene).

Limited Inquiries

Today, ignorance about important human concerns is often cultivated by others for nefarious purposes. Consider the Surveillance presented by Terrell Clemmons in "Inquiring Minds Don't Want to Know" on page 12. The Center for Inquiry, an organization supposedly devoted to "critical thinking," opposes any worldview that includes any data from supernaturalism. Apparently, the testimonies of thousands of people over the centuries to the reality of the non-material world count for nothing to such inquirers.

Of course, a stubborn commitment to naturalism, ruling out any divine Creator, is nothing new. Such naturalism was part of the elite milieu in which Charles Darwin was raised and labored. It encouraged him at every turn to choose speculation and imagination over hard scientific evidence (or the lack thereof), the more easily to promote his unscientific theory of evolution. This story is unpacked in Jason Cherry's "The Ghosts of Modern Science" on page 32.

While evolution seemed well-suited to an age looking for an excuse for atheism, 150 years later it is under siege as a dogma, even as new evidence against it and in favor of intelligent design continually rolls in. Casey Luskin in "Unnecessary Shame" (page 28) argues for caution and patience in assessing the findings of science in the recent scientific/theological debate among Evangelicals over whether Adam and Eve were historical persons. He notes the importance of recognizing what we don't know (yet), lest we take unwarranted positions.

Beyond Science

The importance of truth applies outside of science as well. For example, sexuality activists have been suppressing information while promoting disinformation to advance their agendas. In "Gaslighting Children" (page 16), Sarah Horgan describes their attempts to barrage children with false information about sex, as well as the fraudulent steps taken in recent decades that have led up to this current threat to children. The new "trans" policies flooding the public schools are nothing short of perverse experiments on vulnerable children who really "know nothing" and are unaware of the sexual cauldron they are being thrown into.

C. S. Lewis wrote in That Hideous Strength of a fictional "National Institute for Coordinated Experiments." It was deceptive and guilty of unspeakable crimes (see Archives on page 56). The organization was known as the N.I.C.E., but it was hardly nice. Lewis was a medievalist who knew his Latin.

Sometimes facts are inconvenient to those who have invested their money, time, or prestige in advancing a certain position, or who have made a dubious moral decision. They may not want to hear even new facts. They may cry "hate speech" if someone points out clear and documented facts about the differences between men and women or about heterosexual marital relations having been the norm for all of human history.

While sometimes "ignorance is bliss," we're also told that the truth will set us free. Truth about big things—that is, about our lives, morals, values, destiny, and true human needs. About such things Salvo doesn't strive to be nice, just truthful.