I recently posted this verse as one of the revolving quotations on TuscanyCircle:

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will also be like him. Answer a fool as his folly deserves, that he not be wise in his own eyes. Proverbs 26:4-5

If you indulge (tolerate, play to, accept as valid) the stupidity of others, you exhibit stupidity yourself. Instead, confront such stupidity, call a spade a spade, and set the record straight. You're all but guaranteed not to win friends this way. Defending the truth offends stupid people. They would rather live with lies, comfortable in their bogus self-justification of sins; anyone attempting to shatter their fragile delusions is deemed an enemy and will be responded to accordingly.

From such fools, expect to witness indignation, hostility, exclusion, an attempt to gather a proverbial lynch mob to outgun you with their lies (as if a majority or consensus determined truth), banishment, liberal relativism (even from professing conservatives), excommunication, passive-aggressive responses, attempts at public humiliation, loss of friendships, name-calling--and these are merely the socially responses from the stupid. In less civilized cultures (as if the above were civilized responses), you may expect persecution, imprisonment, vandalism, torture, and murder. For example, many Muslim cultures are renown for such responses to truth (including pointing out that this is how they respond to truth).

My wife, daughter, and I often jest about having few friends, let alone good friends. We steadfastly assert and defend truth. We don't compromise with lies. We have no illusions of changing others' minds--we just won't lies be told to us without stating the truth. Doing so, we've lost numerous friends over the years. (My daughter has been slightly more fortunate, because kids tend to be more forgiving, I think.) It's not that we expect to convert the whole world to the truth, or even that we think we'll convince a single person of the truth. We just don't tolerate B.S. This is more than enough to really tick off most lie-lovers.

For example, not all religions or worldviews are valid--only one of them is, the Biblical one. There is only one valid interpretation of the Bible (that of the Holy Spirit). Divorce is not acceptable. Sex is only for a man and a woman in marriage. We are to practice the spiritual disciplines. We live to serve the Master. Without accepting Jesus' substitutionary sacrifice, we are self-condemned to hell. Government schooling is a failure by any reasonable measure. Turning your child over to anyone else to raise (e.g., government schooling, even most private schooling) is sinful, an obvious violation of God's commandment to train up our own children in the ways of the Lord. Homeschooling is vastly superior to any alternatives in every measure of virtue. Turning left into a right lane is illegal (multiple, corresponding left-turn lanes notwithstanding). Speeding is against God's will because we are commanded to follow man's laws (insofar as they don't run counter to His Law). We live in tyranny (here in America). God is good, even when He commands the annihilation of an entire people. The Jews are God's chosen people...still. Salvation is only available through Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ). The Bible is true (the plain, face-value reading), even Genesis 1-11. Any of these is enough to send most people flying off the handle with rage at your attempt to destroy the delusions they prefer. Utter more than one of them, and you'll have earned new enemies.

Saddest of all is how true this is even with the church (the earthly abomination called the church, as opposed the true church that is the Body of Christ). We were all but asked to leave our home church because the senior pastor wished to deny the truth. (Actually, this has happened more than once. For the record, we issued no blame, were very tactful [unlike my blog persona], and desired only to seek the Lord's will.) My wife has even been kicked out of church and then shunned by the clergy for standing up for truth. I've mentioned the loss of friends. I've lost students I tutored because their parents didn't want the truth. (In one case, the truth was merely that their favored son was failing because he was lazy, while their neglected son was excelling because he was industrious.) Jews have ostracized us because we showed how Talmudic Judaism was not based upon Torah or TNK. Likewise, "Gentile" Christians have balked at the Jewishness of their faith. We have extended family members (parents, siblings, in-laws, to say nothing of those further removed) who have disowned us, slandered us, and actively hated us simply because we stand for truth. All these responses are but a few of the ones we've encountered in our mostly civilized, if deluded, culture. In less civilized cultures, persecution is more direct and physical.

The Lord said we would be persecuted for His sake--even if such persecution is mildly civilized. I wouldn't trade a shred of truth for all the friends in the world, though. I love my heavenly Father and Master, and I would rather endure persecution even to the point of death than betray Him or His Truth even a tiny bit (insomuch as my sinful flesh is able). Confront fools' delusions at your own peril, but do so for God's glory and out of obedience to Him.