WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE TRUTH

Far be it from me to get into the debate about the value of spin doctors, they are after all only another kind of marketing expert, and even the Church listens to marketing experts these days, but there has to be something wrong when one of our most important news channels fills its programmes with opinion, suggestion and downright speculation.

What I want from a News programme is information - the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so far as an honest and inquiring reporter can discover it. There are plenty of other slots where the various experts can give their own interpretations of that truth, based on their own experience, convictions (and prejudices).

But we have become so obsessed with how something looks, that we are beginning to forget that the first thing we need to know is how it is.
Some years ago when I worked in the Civil Service there was a clear and respected difference between the role of the Service, which was to carry out the instructions of government and to feed back to them the effects of their policies, and the role of the politicians, which was to bring in policies which: 'A' matched their convictions, and 'B' would get them re-elected.

Everyone understood this and the system worked reasonably well. By the time I left, however, opinions which did not match those of the government in office could result in civil servants being sidelined if not actually downgraded. No longer was it enough to bowl on a good line and length - spin had taken over!

There may be many reasons for this, T S Eliot once wrote, "Humankind cannot bear too much reality", and society would be a very different place if we all said exactly what we thought every second of the day. But Jesus said, "The truth will set you free", and those who came into contact with that truth were indeed set free, if they were prepared to listen to it.

Jesus never shirked from pointing out people's shortcomings, in that sense He was brutally truthful, but He never mocked them and He never devalued them. He simply brought people face to face with the inconsistencies in their arguments and the consequences of their actions and allowed them to draw their own conclusions. Like Sir Humphrey in "Yes, Minister", his response was , "You might think so, but I couldn't possibly say."

He would not condemn because central to His life and His teachings, is the truth that each one of us is of supreme value to God, and none of us is perfect.

So in our dealings with each other we are duty bound to respect one another and acknowledge that in judging others, we are putting ourselves in the dock.

If we could create for ourselves that assurance of mutual respect and openness to our own shortcomings then the truth would indeed set us free.

We could be grateful for a word of correction or advice, because we would see that our words or our actions were causing unnecessary pain. We could be confident that others would welcome our assistance, without feeling that we were trying to put them down. And we would put and end to this nonsense about "U-turns" and "climb-downs" because we would see that life is full of changes of tack in response to changes of circumstance. And we would free up an awful lot of journalists to concentrate on what we pay them for - to bring us the news.

God bless you all.

Alan
1st July 2002