Love it or Leave it, But Tell the Truth!

A little while back a good friend sent me an email accusing the ACLU of having filed a suit to have all military cross-shaped headstones removed. I certainly wouldn’t put it past them, so I checked snopes.com, and discovered that this was a false claim.

I responded to my friend’s email with two words. “Not True” along with the snopes.com URL. My friend responded in part: “Don't give a rap if it's true or not…my nephew is… at war for a nation in a steep and steady decline. The CHANCES of this happening are greater now than ever before in our history.”

I agree with the sentiment of the response, but if we spread falsities, then we have sunk to the level we hope to expose. I am not trying to beat anyone up, but there’s a reason I went to the trouble of checking these things out.

On a few occasions I have sent forwards with the declaration that though I wasn't sure the forward was true, I did KNOW the principle was true, and so I sent it out.

Conditional ethics are a dangerous tightrope to walk. This is when being a liar for a good cause is Okay. THAT in my opinion is exactly what is wrong with the political Left. They think any deception or underhanded behavior is justified because of the purity of their mission. They think because they believe they represent the oppressed masses, that lying or cheating is okay. After all they are protecting the defenseless. Like the nuns in "The Sound of Music" who confessed to their Mother Superior that they had sinned by disabling the Nazi vehicle that was in pursuit of the Von Trapp Family.

The problem with relative ethics is that they change as much as you change. Who decides on far we should bend the rules before they are officially broken. This is why truth and integrity matter so much.

One of the very few positive things I can say about the Right (IMHO it's all the same stew of deception and subterfuge) is that they don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining. They are a bit more above board. I know there are exceptions, of course, but by and large republicans confess when caught. The Democrats, when caught, will back peddle trying to change the rules so they don't look quite so bad!

Those of us trying to be a positive part of the solution to what ails our beloved country MUST act in integrity revealing a character I think our founding Fathers showed while constructing our government.

“-- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.” Declaration of Independence