By Ron Friesen / Herald Forum
Do you remember being taught to tell the truth when growing up? I do. And often it was painful. We learned that it was important to tell what we did and to tell what actually happened. If we didn’t, there were consequences.
There was always a moral imperative to telling the truth. The imperative was that lying served yourself at the expense of others. Telling the truth served others, sometimes at personal expense. Telling lies was “bad.” Telling the truth was “good.” And, ultimately, telling the truth was good for you. too.
“The Boy Who Cried ‘Wolf!’” was the story often told to back up the idea that it was always “good” to be believable, because some day, you will need to be believed. But is that true any more?
In today’s world of rewarded, attention-chasing disinformation, instead of being eaten by the wolf, the little boy and the wolf would make millions with lies. They would both become rich, famous and powerful because of continuous, outrageous lying. They would end up in charge of the village. And despite the lies being disproven over and over, their lies would still be believed. Sounds like an implausible, ugly story, right? But here it is. Now. Today.
We are witnessing a repeat of pre-World War II history, a lesson we had supposedly learned. That lesson was simple, yet stark. Today as then, telling lies is worth more than telling the truth. And because the lies are repeated so loudly by so many, liars somehow become more believable than the tellers of truth.
The lies and the liars back then destroyed a country, killed millions, and brought the world to war. The parallels to today’s world should make us quake in our boots, dig deep for truth and value it.
So while we may justifiably castigate the Republican Party for clinging to the lies of Trump and his cronies, we need to remember another stark reality: The election fraudsters are our elected representatives. That means the lies have a huge group of ardent believers, evidence be damned. A plague of “Decepticons” has arrived having been transformed from what used to be an honorable Grand Old Party.
Some people believe the earth is flat and that UFOs are real, and that we never landed on the moon. These beliefs are just that. They are beliefs, not truths. We may even believe these are true, but belief does not make it them truths. Telling what really happens is the truth.
Our terminology has gotten us tangled up. We now call beliefs “my truth.” That attempts to make truth equal with belief, experience or opinion. The truth used to be above those, but the term “my truth” has lowered its value.
Political adviser Kellyanne Conway famously coined the phrase “alternate facts” to justify a position or opinion. Lies and “alternate facts” soon became synonymous. Telling the truth was devalued more.
Our news and social media gives credence to lies by repeating them, even now when in the context of calling them lies. The real story is not the lies themselves, but that they are repeated and believed. And even when proven false, the liars are escaping consequences. Telling the truth loses again.
Liars now have more power than truth tellers. Even as liars and lies are increasingly called out, they continue, at our expense.
Alex Jones has made millions by lying about the massacre at Sandy Hook. Tucker Carlson has made millions by lying on the (clever as a) Fox News network. Donald Trump continues spouting “The Big Lie.” The Republican Party has succumbed, and our stalwart two-party system is frayed and coming apart. Our sacred democracy is threatened by lies. And those telling the truth are like Don Quixote tilting at windmills.
The examples are endless. But the question we face now is this: In the face of powerful and pervasive lies and liars, how can we possibly teach the value of telling the truth?
We now are in a culture that views liars who lie repeatedly, exaggerate, then double down on the lies, and recruit other loyalists to spread the lies, as the “good” people. They are rewarded with money, power and attention. We can only teach the value of telling the truth by holding liars accountable for their lies, and they must face the consequences.
After years of vile, lying bluster, only Jones has barely begun to face the consequences. Those who stoked the fires of the Jan. 6 insurrection have yet to face consequences.
This is on all of us, not “them.” We need to once again rebuild the moral imperative that telling the truth makes us believable which is a good thing. Right now too many would rather hear the lies that align with what they believe. So the liars on TV and social media continue in their rich, safe place.
How do we combat this? We do this with our attention. We do this with our actions. We do this with our vote.
Do not blindly give away your attention. Identify truth in your home, your church, your community, and your government. Always identify, advocate and vote for telling the truth. Not “my truth” or “your truth,” or anything based on “alternate facts,” but telling what really happened. Failing that, the liars continue to win as they are now.
What will we teach in our schools? What will we teach our children and grandchildren? After they look around, will they believe in the value of telling the truth?
We will get what we value.
Ron Friesen is a longtime Marysville resident, a retired music teacher and community and church musician and is committed to community improvement.
Herald Forum
The Herald Forum invites community members to submit essays on topics of importance and interest to them. Essays typically are between 400 and 600 words in length, although exceptions for longer pieces can be made. To submit essays or for more information about the Herald Forum, write Herald Opinion editor Jon Bauer at jbauer@heraldnet.com or call him at 425-339-3466.
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