If one takes into consideration that modern societies all over the world are being fed and [mis]guided by utopias and, at the same time, are walking upon a quicksand bed of lies, then he can begin to realize the importance of the issue at hand.

            We must stress the fact that the problem of utopias, as it has been presented here, was not unfamiliar to the mind of Cervantes. This can be seen, for example, in what he says when the purging of Don Quixote’s library reaches the book entitled History of the Famous Knight Tirante the White –one of the few books spared from the purifying blazes lit like a veritable bonfire by the Priest and the Barber in order to do away with the knight-errantry books of our hero. Today, the bonfires which those two characters could have lit, no matter how many of them, would not have been enough to do the job; so abundant and diverse are the tools used by the World to deceive people.

            ‘Good heavens!’ exclaimed the priest in a loud voice. ‘Is “Tirante the White here”? Give it to me friend, for to my mind that book is a rare treasure of delight and a mine of entertainment. Here is Lord-have-mercy-on –us of Montalban, a valiant knight, and his brother Thomas of Montalban and the knight of Fonseca, and the fight the valiant Tirante had with the great mastiff, and the witticisms of the maiden Joy-of-my-life, with the amours and tricks of widow Quiet, and the lady Empress in love with her squire Hipolito. I tell you the truth, my friend, for its style it is the best book in the world. Here the knights eat and sleep and die in their beds, and make their wills before they die, and other things as well that are left out of all other books of the kind.’[1]

            In spite of Cervantes’ blatant mockery, for he takes pleasure and enjoyment in mentioning knights, maidens, and ladies with ridiculous names, it is interesting call attention to the final utterance:

This is the best book in the world. Here the knights eat and sleep and die in their beds, and make their wills before they die, and other things as well that are left out of all other books of the kind.[2]

            It contains an obvious descent to the real and normal world; that is, to the world of ordinary truth and daily chores. The fact that here the knights sleep and die in their beds, and make their wills before they die, clearly alludes to the final culmination of his work: Don Quixote, his sanity already recovered and being, once again, Alonso Quixano the Good, dictates his will and dies in peace with the Church, his family, and all his neighbors.

            It is clear, therefore, that Cervantes’ diatribe is not against the knight-errantry books merely because they are knight-errantry books. He does not even try, in the last analysis, to put an end to the lies contained in those books simply because they are lies. What he really seeks is to denounce the harm that those lies cause, above all, to the ordinary people –something which usually goes unnoticed. According to Cervantes, the fact that those lies are utopias is maliciously hidden since they are presented as being the answer to all injustices –even as being the safest way to achieve a better world. But those utopias are merely mental, good for nothing lucubrations (for their fantasies have no foundation in reality) which deceive and harm many ordinary people of good will who, consciously or unconsciously, long for a different and more perfect world. The drying up of the brain, according to Cervantes – or the brainwashing, according to us—, is a current reality in our modern societies, which, thanks to a technology totally unthinkable in the times of Cervantes, is terribly efficient at manipulating the masses.

            Today’s believer, who searches for God in good will in the midst of a constant fight to remain faithful to the true Faith, feels himself drowned by a Catholicism which has been invaded by innumerable utopias. How could he manage not to err the way…? Above all, being aware of the situation, he must remain vigilant before the multitude of seducers swarming all around him: Little children: let no one deceive you (1 Jn 3:7). And, truly speaking, nobody is deceived unless he has previously made an option for lies.

            In the last analysis, the goal at which all utopias aim is none other than to impose different forms of tyranny; for a deceived world will inevitably become a world of slaves. The only effective remedy against this is given to us precisely by Jesus Christ himself, for it could not be otherwise. First of all, we must remain faithful to His words, that is, to His teachings. Secondly, in doing so, we will indefectibly be able to know the truth. Finally, guided by that knowledge, we will reach true freedom. These three steps have been emphatically pointed at by Our Lord: If you continue in my word, you shall be my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth: and the truth shall make you free (Jn 8: 31—32).

            All right –someone could say— but what must one do to remain faithful to His words…? And the answer –once again— cannot be found anywhere else but in love. Only he is seduced by deception who has failed in loving; not he who merely lost the way because of erroneous knowledge. And so it is indeed, for all is a matter of love. Jesus Christ Himself says it with clear words: If any one loves me, he will keep my word…He that loves me not keeps not my words (Jn 14: 23—24). Hence the beautiful expression of Saint John of the Cross: In the evening of our life we will be examined about love.