Liars were never meant to lead. Well, maybe they were. But maybe they were supposed to just lead other liars. Quite sincerely, I do not know. But what if the latter is the case – that liars were supposed to just lead bands of liars? If so, where and when did we go wrong? Why do we deserve to be led now by people who have no ability to tell the truth about anything? What happens when the non-liars living in the same communities as lying bands get swept along on the paths traveled by those liars? These days, I wonder if that is what has happened to our world. As many of us are finding out in the current makeup of our sociopolitical landscape, lying leaders have both the ability and the will to destroy us all with their lying skills just to satisfy their own selfish interests. It does not seem to matter to them who gets injured as they live their lives administering train wrecks that disguise as organizations.
It used to be honorable to be in a position of leadership. That was when leaders considered it an honor to serve the people who placed them in authority. It was indeed the time when people cared about their careers and personal reputations; a time when people trusted their leaders because they were trustworthy. Those days are long gone. Now, we even wonder sometimes if there was ever a time when a person’s word was his/her bond or if we just imagined it. Well, even I remember those days, and maybe I know something about how we got here. First, political leaders began to care less about the people they were supposed to serve. Therefore, they stole from them mercilessly. Then, community leaders and others in authority began to mediate conflict and competitive situations in clearly fraudulent ways. Then religious leaders began to swindle their congregations just to whet their huge appetites for fame and wealth. In all these cases, the common denominator has always been man’s propensity to replace truth with falsehood – and to do so with bold callousness.
We now live in an era when it is almost dangerous to believe the people that we have entrusted with the leadership of our societal institutions. Yet, if those institutions crumble, there can be no hope for society’s survival because it is those institutions that have historically served as society’s self-correcting conscience, even at times when it was tempting and satisfying for the powerful few to oppress the powerless many in ways so harsh that history’s lament remains forever alive as indelible stains and loud warnings for all to hear and heed. Now, we have judges who have lost the ability to interpret the law as an instrument for ensuring and advancing the cause of social justice. Therefore, they lie about the intent and spirit of the law just because they desire to reshape and redirect society on a path that benefits some and strip others of hope, dignity and a sense of equality.
There is now hardly a hiding place for the oppressed, poor and racial/ethnic minorities of any country, as institutions that protect minority rights come under attack in much of the world. More and more, religious leaders are lying in the name of God, as they preach about a God who hates people that He created, a God who loves just a few people who proclaim His name with loud megaphones but has condemned others who love Him equally but whose piety is unacceptable to our religious police. Increasingly, we are electing dishonest politicians whose propensity to lie is matched only by their laziness and their inability to use their offices for the common good. When anyone authorized to lead makes up a story and presents it as if it happened when everyone knows he/she is lying, those who still support him/her are just as complicit in the leader’s senseless undermining of justice, truth and decency. Such a leader is wicked and so are his/her supporters because lying leaders are destructive and selfless not only in their desire to protect their own self-interests, but also in their ability to carry weak-minded and unthinking citizens along as they wreak havoc on the lives of others.
As we watch politicians even in so-called advanced nations look at facts but deny their existence, and even demand that we ignore our Constitution, it is hard to wonder what hope remains for our world. Certainly, if I knew the answer to what I wonder, I would set about making the amends. But I do not know because I alone do not elect a political candidate, I alone do not a congregation make, and I do not serve as the arbiter of right and wrong, considering my own imperfections. However, there is one undeniable fact that I know: when liars lead, we can all be in trouble. That is the situation that we now have on our hands. We are in trouble because lying leaders are a scourge to whatever society, community or organization nurtures and supports them.
Thank you for sharing this wonder piece. I often wonder people who lies so much whether they worry about how the lies can detroys the trust people once had with them. And how poisonous this can be to people around them. One thing I do know, they is a God and he is consistently watching and listening. Nothing lasted forever!!
You have my full agreement with that comment. Thanks for your insightful contribution.
Leaders have always been liars, nothing new about that, our responds only lies in how much we know about the information we are fed. With the proliferation of information despite the risk of fake news, alot more info seems to be in the public dormain than we have ever know in the history of our societies. The interesting thing about a presidency like Trump’s is how much it has exposed the level of corruption in the so called advanced societies. Before now, We were drove to believe that corruption laid only in the ‘third world countries who has no propensity to lead her own but today, we can boldly speak to the corruption of the so called developing countries as product of the very corrupt imperial/ colonial systems that produced them
That is certainly the case. Now, we are increasingly learning that we are very much like the people and systems that we have always either criticized or looked up to.