The question of truth has always haunted authors of controversial stories — including both fiction and non-fiction. Nevertheless, non-fiction was understood to represent a claim to be a true, even if highly interpreted, account of reality. Or, at least that has been the understanding until recent times.

What are America’s most sinful cities? How could we know? Well, give Forbes magazine credit for giving this ranking challenge a try. The magazine recently offered rankings on the traditional seven deadly sins — and ranked America’s “top ten” on each sin.

Just a few years ago, author Ralph Keyes argued that America had evolved “beyond honesty.” In The Post-Truth Era: Honesty and Deception in Contemporary Life, Keyes proposed that honesty is now “on the ropes” as a virtue.

A rise in suicide among the young seems to be tied to the emergence of on-line suicide sites that offer advice and encouragement to kill oneself. The Telegraph [London] reports that, as an example, one village in Wales has seen a significant spike in suicides among the young.

As Wesley J. Smith explains, “the reigning cultural paradigm” holds that “a life with profound cognitive dysfunction is not worth living.” The dominant assessment is that a person with a diagnosis of permanent unconsciousness should be allowed to die by withdrawal of food and hydration.

One of the most harrowing features of modern thought is the reluctance to speak honestly about evil. The cause of this discomfort with the category of evil is understandable, of course. When belief in God recedes, confidence in moral judgment inevitably recedes with that belief.