"FACTS"

MY DEFINITION OF "FACTS" Since Donald Trump was elected as President of the United States, the term "alternative facts" has entered our national vocabulary. Alternative or alternatives are self-evident, meaning more than one . What is not so evident, however, is the true definition of "fact." That four-letter word is power-packed! I recall seeing a set of tomes in a law library distinguishing "fact and law." Until seeing that treatment of fact and law, their distinction had not occurred to me over years of legal practice. There were rules of evidence that governed proffers of factual evidence into the courts, which were riddled with exceptions being rules that we had no choice but to review continually, if in trial. My qualifications to inject myself into this lexical dispute are these: I have a Bachelors of Arts degree in print journalism (cum laude); am a former newspaper editor in chief, at Howard University's "Hilltop," which is where I also graduated law school. I am an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (retired), and I am, additionally, a voracious reader of classic works. That will suffice . By this very brief essay I have decided to try to help to unravel the uproar over "alternative facts." Facts are demonstrable evidence. Facts are far more than assertions: oral, written, graphic, cyber. Facts are laden with, burdened by, proof. No proof no facts. Belief is not fact. Belief is but an accepted assertion of fact, that is acceptable to someone or group. Without proof in nature, in science, in mathematics, or in some other source that is capable of empirical, measurable, objective third-person demonstration, no facts have been established: independently, reliably objectively; only a version of such . Thus, unless an assertion is proven out of the mouths of two or three witnesses, no facts are established, says, even the Bible in 2 Cor 13:1. Indeed, the Bible demands proof of facts in many passages repeatedly! Thus, "alternative facts" that are unproven are not facts, just words. Thanks 🙏🏿