Sucker Punch
“Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth”
—Mike Tyson
Iron Mike had a point, but I would add that the hardest of blows not only shatter plans, they deliver clarity. Revelations of deceit and betrayal are but sledgehammer blows that numb, disorient and lay waste to the illusion of reality as one knew it. But akin to the wake of a physical assault, the most exquisite of pain arrives later, in a poisonous drip-feed of realisations, as the multitude of little things, which did not add up at the time, reconfigure themselves to reveal the nauseating extent of the lies and the callous, casual abuse of trust. So it goes. Deal with it.
All the while the perpetrator, not only drowns out their own conscience by convincing themselves of their own victimhood, they assume the mantle of heroism by appealing to Authenticity: the thoroughly modern virtue of virtues. That is, being “authentic“ to one's true nature and inclinations is deemed the highest of virtues. Coupled with the observation that 'God is in all of us', being authentic is simply doing God's will by listening to the 'inner god' rather than some tired formulaic conception imposed from outside. As if this were not enough, can anyone deny how despicable it is to be inauthentic?. Hypocrisy is after all but a manifestation of inauthenticity, and the condemnation of hypocrites comes from our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. QED.
Tragically, the consequences of this new age creed are nothing short of monstrous. There is nothing pure about our authentic human nature, for we know it to be fallen: egoistic, sinful and compromised. That's not to say that there is no good mixed in, but deifying it, and so being true to it, is a recipe for abuse and carnage at all scales. Fellow humans become means to an end: ok to have while they meet my needs and fit my purposes, but ruthlessly discarded and forgotten as soon as they become inconvenient (born or unborn). Let's not forget that some of recent history's most unquestionably authentic of figures include Mao, Hitler, Stalin, Ted Bundy and the like. Tellingly, only those who manifest exceptional virtue are ever doubted on the grounds of authenticity.