“Lesson 10 – Believe in Truth”

By the 2025 Genesis MICAH Fellow

In Lesson 10 of On Tyranny, Timothy Snyder tells us something simple: truth matters. And when people stop believing in truth, freedom is in danger.

He talks about how some leaders try to confuse people on purpose. They spread lies or twist the truth so much that no one knows what to believe anymore. And once that happens, people start to give up and just follow the loudest voice, even if that voice is wrong, such as news placing false rumors on people, and many people using platforms such as TikTok as resources to inform themselves, but don't really see the biases in these platforms.

This lesson made me think about how often we hear lies or fake stories online or on the news. Sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s real anymore. But Snyder is saying that we can’t give up on the truth. We must continue to learn, ask questions, and call out lies when we encounter them.

He’s also reminding us that truth isn’t something that just takes care of itself. We have to protect it. That

means supporting honest journalism, reading from good sources, and not just believing something because it fits what we want to hear.

The truth can be uncomfortable sometimes. It can challenge us. But without truth, we can’t fight for justice or fairness since the book really touches on us, not even knowing what’s real and whom to believe or not.

This chapter is telling us: don’t stop caring about the truth, don’t let lies take over, and keep asking questions, stay curious, and help others do the same. His message was that one of the best ways to protect democracy is people's drive to care and wanting to know more.