I’ve been told that the biggest problem with the pandemic, when it broke out in China, is that the people are so accustomed to dishonesty, distortion and propaganda from the communist regime, that they never believe anything the government says. As a result of distrust, the people did not obey when they were not being watched, because they really did not initially believe what they were told. We’ll probably never know the truth about how many people died in China because of the virus, but it’s certainly many times more that the communists are admitting. Communists, despots and dictators have never been concerned with the truth—-but the people they rule over soon come to understand that and order their lives accordingly.
What alarms me is that this seems to be happening more often in the USA—a democracy. And it’s not just our Senators, Congressman and President that don’t tell the whole truth, it’s also military leaders, folks at the CIA, the FBI and civil servants on the local level. People lie, exaggerate and embellish with little condemnation from the rest of us. But dishonest officials make life very precarious as lying becomes an accepted means of communication in a community and a nation.
I can choose to always tell the truth; nothing is stopping me except the convenience of being less than candid and straightforward. But as I see it, it’s the cowards that lie and the brave that never lie. And of course, no one is impressed with a liar—-we know that they are afraid of telling the truth. President Xi knows that the truth would spell the end of his post as “Chairman of the Communist Party” and the death of Communist rule of China. But what he might be forgetting is that those that surround him and feed the disinformation he requires are clearly aware of his dishonesty and corruption. As with the Soviet Union, it will eventually catch up with him and the communist dictatorship.
Of course the same thing holds true in our nation, but the difference here is that people can suggest that the President or Governor or Speaker of the House is lying——and they don’t get put into prison for the rest of their life—as in China, Venezuela or North Korea. But are we angry enough about dishonesty? Does it bother us enough to do something about it, or are we becoming immune to the moral failure of those that lead us or dominate our newspapers?
Nothing will stop this now short of an awakening in the nation and a return to our faith in God.
May God raise up honest men and women to inspire us; and may God use you and me as examples of truth and transparency…
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