The ambitious sort who does not love the truth or the people, wants things like money and power and prestige. And for this, he needs customers, whom he attempts to gain by way of offering goods or services of value. And if he should find his way into the business of religion or politics, he will likely have to pick a camp large enough to suit his needs, and convince them that he holds value for them.

But he will not find a camp of size that wants all lies, just as he will not find one that wants all truth. So he sits straddling the fence between true and false, where he may easily touch a toe down on either side, as needed to suit his purposes—sometimes making use of the truth, and sometimes of the lie. And he makes use of the people in quite the same way, loving neither them nor the truth.

But even so, he will be an idol for many in his camp, who count him a champion of truth or of compassion—or of both, perhaps. And he is not really, but it suits the people to see him this way. And so they make use of him, too. And if he tells the truth about too much, they’ll get rid of him, just as they will if he lies about too much.

And yes, there’s some give-and-take here, but even so, there’s a fairly delicate balance about it all—much of it depending on appearances more than anything else. And he gets his money or power or prestige from it, and they get to feel like they are a special people who are part of something meaningful.

If you were to put a real lover of truth and people in that same position, it breaks the whole enterprise, for he will do what is right, whatever the consequences, thinking that the people need the truth, whether they like it or not. And the camp will reject him for the most part, though a few will find his example intriguing, even as they surrender to the commonplace morality of his successor.

This is how the world works. This is what people are like. It has always been thus. And if you can accept it, it has always been thus in America—in her governments and in her churches. And many will hate me for saying it, but it is the truth. Those few here who do truly love the truth and love the people have become that way, not because of our institutions, but in spite of them.

Far too few know how to invest themselves in principle. No, that’s the habit of cognitively/morally-advanced people, while the average man is much more likely to invest himself into various camps, and maybe then, will chance take a look at a few principles from time to time. And even so, when disputes over those principles arise, most are going to go as the camp goes, and give up on the principle.

This is how the world works. This is what people are like. And it has always been thus.

And if you don’t like it, there’s a separate world for you, where you can go when you are done here—if God will have you. And there is no delicate balance there at all. The needle on the truth meter there is slammed all the way to the max, as is the needle of love. And there is never the slightest notion there—as there is here—that truth and love might somehow be in conflict with one another from time to time. No, that’s a principle of this world, and not of the next. If you were to take the average person and put him in Heaven forever, it would be a “living Hell” for him, as they say. And it would also ruin Heaven for everybody else. So God made an alternate destination for the average joe, so that everyone can be where he belongs.

And this world does not want its leaders to be people who have their hearts and minds set in Heaven, even though they do quite like to see them give lip service to it from time to time. And you are not expected (by the world) to figure out this. And if you do, you are not expected (by the world) to be so bold as to object unswervingly to it. And if you do, they’ll find a way to put you out of the camp.

This is how the world works. This is what people are like. And it has always been thus. If you do well here (in God’s eyes), it is not because of the system, but in spite of it. It is because you have adopted the principles of that next world, where there’s no narcissist in charge, and where they don’t have to walk on eggshells.

That is how Heaven works. This is what its people are like. And it has always been thus.

You were put here to see the difference and to decide for yourself.