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| Image by Andreas H. from Pixabay |
This post isn’t political, it’s philosophical. I’m going to
talk about something in the news, and you may be tempted to jump to
conclusions about what I think about that topic from a political lens. Please
avoid that temptation. Again, this post isn’t about politics. It’s philosophy.
My thesis: Lying is bad.
Some of you are probably thinking, “Yes and…?” Some of you
are probably coming up with examples where you think lying is fine (e.g.
telling little kids about Santa Claus). Not lying to people is one of those
things that we all agree is - or at least pretend to agree is - wrong. Actually, it
would be more accurate to say that we can all agree that people lying to us is
wrong. When we lie to other people… well, sometimes that’s just business or we’re
doing it for their own good or we’re trying to protect their feelings or we’re
just joking around.
Let’s talk about that last one. Just joking around. Have you
ever had someone tell you that after you caught them in an obvious lie? They get
indignant as if it’s your fault because you didn’t get the joke. We’re just joking
around here, man.
Brace yourself. I’m going to use a real world example. It
involves politicians. Remember, we’re not talking politics right now. This is
philosophy.
Below this paragraph is a picture of Nekima Levy Armstrong who was arrested a few days ago for allegedly orchestrating a riot in a church. The picture was posted by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on Twitter*.
source: https://x.com/KristiNoem/status/2014358158588723399
This is another picture of Nekima Levy Armstrong posted by
the White House Twitter account.
source: https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2014365986388951194
You may have noticed that Ms. Armstrong’s face is different
between the two photos. The photo posted by the White House has been altered to
make Ms. Armstrong look like she's crying. When questioned about the discrepancy, the
White House responded, “the memes will continue.” To me, that sounds a lot like
“it’s just a joke, man.”
Question: Is it? Just a joke, I mean. The AI video of President Trump flying a jet and bombing No
Kings protests with poop (not going to link it, but that’s real) was obviously
a joke. But Ms. Armstrong’s altered face was part of an announcement of her
arrest. At face value, that's a straightforward post delivering facts. That’s not a great time for jokes.
Let’s pause and regroup. If you like the current
administration, you might be thinking that I’m unfairly calling out the White
House for a minor photo edit. If you don't like the administration, you might be upset that I’m not making value
judgements about the reason Ms. Armstrong got arrested. Liking or disliking the
current administration or talking about what Ms. Armstrong did to get arrested isn’t my point with these posts.
My point: Presenting an altered photo from an official government
account with no indication that it's "just a joke" is lying to the public. Going back to my original thesis for this post, lying is bad.
I picked the above example because it’s timely (just a few
days ago) and because it involves an organization that should be trustworthy
(the White House). There are other examples I could pick, but the issues are so
hot that they would overshadow the point. For America to work, we need to be
able to have a measure of trust for our elected leadership. We need to know
that regardless of whether the blue team or the red team is in power, that the
facts they are presenting to us are actually facts.
I am concerned that we've been maneuvered into a box where we must agree with everything that our chosen party says and does. And that our chosen parties are using that blind allegiance to gain or retain power solely for the sake of having power. Careless lies erode the trust that is the foundation of good
governance. Willingly accepting lies from
any leading group because they’re wearing the right colored tie will slide this
country into despotism.
Back in 1903, Teddy Roosevelt wrote a letter to Cecil Spring Rice, the British ambassador to the United States, in which Teddy discussed the dangers of despotism for a nation. Here's a quote from that letter:
“But I see nothing of permanent good that can come to Russia, either for herself or for the rest of the world, until her people begin to tread the path of orderly freedom, of civil liberty, and of a measure of self-government. Whatever may be the theoretical advantages of a despotism, they are incompatible with the growth of intelligence and individuality in a civilized people.”
Or we can take the Apostle Paul's opinion on truthfulness:
So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.
Ephesians 4:25 (NLT)
Friends, it is my hope that we tread the path of orderly freedom and stop telling lies because we are all parts of the same country**.
With love,
Tom
*I can accept a lot of change in my life, but I’m just not going
to start calling Twitter X.
**Unless you're reading this from a different country. I trust you can find a good reason not to lie where ever you live.
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