(Personal Note: For those of you who have not read this already on Facebook, my publisher called me a week ago with the surprising news that they are adding a hardback edition of my debut novel, A Brother’s Peace, to go with the paperback and E-version. Really excited about this. Also, if you’ve read it and liked it, a brief review posted on Amazon would be greatly appreciated. That affects how Amazon lists it.)
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Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about telling the truth and not telling the truth.
Specifically, I’ve been thinking about how easy it is to do both – tell the truth and not tell the truth. One is not harder than the other. They’re equally easy to do.
Also, there are advantages to doing both. People who tell the truth earn the trust and respect of others, and on occasion are recognized or rewarded for being honest.
People who don’t tell the truth often avoid the bad consequences they would have suffered had they told the truth. They get promotions they wouldn’t have gotten, keep friends they would have lost, remain in a group that would have excluded them had they been honest. Sometimes they even avoid legal consequences they would have faced had they told the truth.
When it comes to politics, though, it seems that telling the truth brings few rewards while not telling the truth brings many.
Consider Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Had Trump been honest about his behavior with women, his business dealings, the way he uses people for his own benefit, about his admiration for dictators like Putin and Kim Jung Un, he would have never become President.
His not telling the truth is how he got elected.
More than that, not telling the truth about violating his oath of office and blocking the peaceful transfer of power is why he might become President again.
Contrast the lack of consequences for Trump never telling the truth with Joe Biden who does all the time.
Despite Republican attacks on his character, he’s as honest as a politician in today’s America can be. More than that, he doesn’t tell lies about people who criticize him. Nor do reporters spend any time counting the number of times Biden lies as they did with Trump because he doesn’t.
Yet, for telling the truth and being honest, Biden’s current poll numbers are no better than those of Donald Trump who has never told the truth in his life about anything.
Kind of curious, isn’t it? Probably says more about us as Americans than the politicians who lead us.
There is, however, something that might change what can be said about us as voters. It is the recognition that both telling the truth and not telling the truth are unconscious acts controlled by a person’s moral character.
In other words, it is in a person’s nature to be honest or not to be honest, based on having a strong moral character or a weak one.
Someone like Joe Biden is honest because that is who he is. The same principle is true for someone like Donald Trump. He doesn’t tell the truth because he doesn’t have the moral character to do so.
Which brings me back to where I started.
Telling the truth and not telling the truth are both easy because both are natural by-products of a person’s moral character. People with a strong moral character tell the truth because it’s in their nature to do so. People with weak moral character don’t tell the truth because it’s in their nature not to do so.
If we accept that as a fact of life, it should make us wiser in the votes we cast as we realize that it is foolish to expect a politician known for not telling the truth to start doing so. At the same time, a politician who has earned the reputation for telling the truth can be trusted to continue doing so.
It’s all in the nature of each because of the power of moral character or the lack thereof.
Because of our recent history and the current political divisions we have, becoming wiser voters may be our best hope for getting our country back on solid political and moral ground and saving our democracy.
linnposts.com 
With truth comes freedom.
Clearly with 91 criminal charges and no community to accompany him, no guilt, no shame, no honor, no empathy, no compassion, no values, no dignity , no respect ….not even a dog , the “lying king” enjoys no freedom
Perfect, Dixcy!
Excellent observation. Not holding my breath!
Joe, I have to believe voters will reject the falsehoods Trump and many other Republicans are telling and choose to support candidates who believe truth matters because it’s the only hope we have for our country.
And I share your hope. I guess what I’m looking for is elected members of either party who believe truth matters. I just don’t know who they are! Same goes for the candidates. And it’s just not our country. Russia? China? South America? Africa? India? See any lovers of truth there? The planet has a problem, my friend. Just as environmental experts are beginning to question whether we have reached a tipping point where nothing we do will stop the inevitable, I’m wondering whether the same may be true for world politics. Sleep well!
The planet crisis does keep me up at night, if I let it. I fear our irresponsible ways have so damaged the planet that extreme climate will become the final arbiter of the quality of life regardless of our politics. On truth, I believe there are some political leaders do believe truth matters, mostly Democrats, but a few Republicans like Romney, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger. Just not enough to influence the party. Really appreciate the comments.
Unfortunately telling the truth means nothing to those who support Trump..That faction of the body politic believes the ends justify the means…we have to hope that there are enough good Republicans who will either not show , vote for the democratic candidate or Liz Cheney should Trump be the GOP nominee…hopefully he won’t be ..
Art, there are enough Americans who value truth to ensure Trump and other MAGA Republicans lose next year, if we all vote. That is the key.
Jan,
You continue to carry the torch for those of us who understand that the re-election of Donald Trump could mean the end of democracy in our nation!
Thank you,
Bill Blackwell
But I’m not alone, Bill, as you well know, and together we will turn on the lights in rooms across the country Republicans are trying to keep dark.
I keep these words on my desktop. They were stated by Jan Hus, the Czech religious reformer who lived in Prague a century before Martin Luther. Betrayed by a close confidant of his, he was tried and burnt at the stake in the City of Constance on the 6th July 1415.
“Seek the Truth; hear the truth;
Learn the Truth; love the truth;
Speak the Truth; hold the truth;
and defend the Truth until death”.
Jan Hus (1370 – 1415)
Hus said it all and identified the challenge we all face every day. Thanks for sharing his words.
Jan,,
Sorry I’m so slow responding. This is a good analysis the moral character and its results.
Gene
Never too late to receive your comments, Gene. Thank you.
Well, for the first time in my life I am truly struck with fear……..fear that good will not prevail. I dash those thoughts as quickly as I feel them but I am in disbelief that there are so many people who continue supporting a man who is intrinsically evil. He continues his cult-like behavior and his followers continue to emulate his behavior. Where did all these amoral people come from? Have they been hiding in the dark corners of the earth only to emerge when they feel they have a leader who supports their behavior even though it is dark and misguided?? There are a lot of people out there who are sick and dangerous. How did this happen? Or am I so naive that I thought that most of the world is good or at least trying to be? I am so dismayed. I pray that this man will be held accountable for his misdeeds and that he will not continue to “rally the troops”. It is becoming infectious—-especially of note in our leaders. Lord please help us!!!!!!!!
Oh, my, Jackie. I can feel the anguish in you as I read this. The only response I can give is to say what I have said before, that most Americans are good and decent people, and I believe good will prevail over this evil we are witnessing in our midst. Trump has had a negative, mean, and divisive effect on our nation we simply were not prepared for. None of us ever believed such an individual could rise to prominence or not be driven to the ash heap of history quickly. That he is still around is worrisome, but I refuse to believe he and his kind will win the day politically. He will be held accountable in spite of the support very disturbed people are giving him. You are not alone in how you feel, and your words have given elegant expression of what the rest of us feel. Thank you for writing them for all of us to read.