In the economy of civics, “trust” is the only currency that counts. We all know that a flat-out lie is wrong, yet we tolerate “shading” the truth if it serves our political purposes. It is so easy to pull honest-to-goodness facts out of context to deceitfully further our own ends.
Scripture is replete with condemnations of lying. Proverbs 12:33 tells us “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.”
And let us not forget the most inconvenient of the Ten Commandments. To be clear: the Ninth Commandment doesn’t say, “Don’t lie,” which is how we try to explain it. True enough, but this explanation misses the mark through simplification.
Instead, God tells us to “not bear false witness against your neighbor.” This covers a lot more waterfront than just “do not tell a lie.” It goes to the heart of what we say, what we communicate, and what we are attempting to make our neighbor hear. It even goes to what we don’t say.
This is where context matters. Fact presented out of context creates a lie.
We see this all the time in politics.
Not long ago, a Republican lawmaker bragged about how he was a proponent of a popular GOP reform. In fact, he was responsible for the measure being watered down to the point of being useless. After the bill was gutted, he then voted for it. So when he told his constituents he supported the measure, he was telling a version of the truth way outside the context of what had actually happened.
It’s not just the politicians. The establishment media does the same thing every day. From carefully selected camera angles to skipped nuances, most of what we read and watch is simulataneously “factual” and a lie.
The crony politicians and the establishment media do it for the same reason: to preserve their power and keep the citizenry uninformed.
Tyranny thrives when the people are misinformed. To secure liberty, we must expect something better.
This means our loyalty cannot be to politicians, parties, and institutions. This constitutional republic will fail when we as citizens tolerate deceit from those who are supposed to serve us.
Our American system of self-governance requires that we as citizens tell each other the truth, putting facts in context in the service of helping each other be more effective.
Telling the truth isn’t always convenient to the establishment politicians, their apologists in the media, or paymasters in the lobby, but it is critical to the high calling of citizenship.
