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 that most awkward of the Ten Commandments. To be clear: the Ninth Commandment doesn’t say, “Don’t lie,” which is how we conveniently try to explain it. True enough; we should not lie, but that explanation misses the mark through simplification.
Instead, God tells us to “not bear false witness against your neighbor.” This covers a lot more ground than just “do not tell a lie.” It goes to the heart of what we say, what we communicate, and what we are trying to make our neighbor hear. It even speaks to what we don’t say.
This is where context matters. Facts presented out of context will create a lie; I see it all the time in politics.
I recall, several years ago, sitting in the audience as a politician spoke to his constituents about his unwavering support for a popular civic reform. In fact, I knew he was responsible for watering the measure down to the point of being useless. After the legislation had been gutted, he of course 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 legacy media does the same thing every day. From carefully selected camera angles to skipped nuances, much of what we read and watch is simultaneously “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 first demand the truth so that we can be more effectively engaged. Bad information always produces bad actions.
This constitutional republic will fail when we, as citizens, tolerate deceit for too long 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 to help each other be more effective.
Being a truth-teller isn’t always appreciated by the establishment politicians, their partisan sycophants, or their apologists in the media, but it is critical to the high calling of citizenship.
