From the Oxford dictionary
mis·lead; Verb cause (someone) to have a wrong idea or impression about someone or something.
Synonyms; Deceive, delude, take in, lie to, fool, hood wink
Trust, noun; firm belief in the reliability, truth or strength of something or someone
Trustworthy, adj; to be relied on as honest or truthful
Respect,noun; a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities or a achievements
I referenced the Oxford Dictionary to define the words above.
Recently, I watched a TED Talk “Why don’t we trust Science”
Truth and trust, inextricably linked.
2020, The year of the Plague, the year the world stood still.
In the midst of the heart break, the loss of loved ones, the loss of much we are used to, our sense of comfort in our world, our communities and ourselves, we have been given, a moment to pause, to reflect on what is important. Many of us have been faced with isolation, some of us have done so with family or friends. To look at what is important. What are we doing with the time of our lives.
What actions am I going to take to protect myself, those closest to me, my community.
A fundamental part of being human is to Trust. We want to trust others. We want to trust those around us. We want to trust our elected and appointed leaders.
What humans learn as the years spin by, some humans cannot be trusted.
There is a meme, a joke if you will, “I am from the government, I am here to help” has been circulating as long as I can remember. It speaks to the deeper issue of trust. We want to trust our leadership.
An expression I have heard misquoted frequently this year by some of those in charge.
They will say, it is just a few bad apples. Were it not so distressing it would be amusing to note that “they” do not seem to understand the actual quote is “A few bad apples, spoil the whole barrel”[1]
Integrity noun: firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility
The issue those in leadership positions, the media and each of us individually have lost touch with, is the simple truth if you mislead me/lie to me, when I realize that, I will no longer consider you trustworthy. I will not believe anything you say, or, at least your words will be subject to my scrutiny. That is to say, I will not trust you.
That is exponentiate when you say to me, But, I did this for your own good. Translated; I lied to you for your own good. Sorry, not sorry. Whatever the reason, your lie violated your integrity. and your hubris, your audacity assumes all you have to do is say, my lie was well intentioned, maybe you will say, I am sorry. Perhaps not.
The result of the lies that come to us through the media and personal interaction with our leaders results in the harsh reality that I do not trust you. You lied before but now you are telling me the truth? Nope, I cannot listen to your word, you have predefined yourself as having no integrity.
There are TED Talks, telling me to trust science and scientists, government official’s promising a bright new day of truth and transparency. And we keep falling for it.
Public Health officials lied to us. Period, and now contrite, hat in hand they are asking forgiveness asking for my trust. Hmmm.
The truly challenging part of integrity is when we are faced with what we know is a lie, and having the courage (verb, the willingness to take action in the face of fear) and or bravery (the willingness to take action when we know the consequence will be unpleasant).
Can a lie be offset by “I’m sorry”? That is the question. The painful answer is No, generally speaking, I’m sorry does not unwind the annihilation of truth and integrity wrot by a lie.
Theis profound damage is first and foremost to ourselves.
The solutions to the issues we face as individuals and as a species, can only be reckoned with, out of human dialogue. Each of us willing to listen to each other, to speak our words and our thought with integrity. There is no place for misleading, for lying. The widespread damage of lying is only offset by the profound damage to our inner selves, our souls.
[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/one-bad-apple-spoil-the-barrel-metaphor-phrase