Religion, Politicians, and Dishonesty

Have you checked out the Fact Checking websites that are available on the internet?  I was recently planning a blog post about the different lies that are being told in the presidential election, as well as the state and local elections.  As I began to dig into the confusing world of political lies, I was simply overwhelmed.  There were far too many of them to cover in a blog post.

Then, a rather disturbing thought occured to me.  Most of these politicians claim to be members of a religious group. In addition, the majority of their followers are people of faith, often people who are deeply devoted to their religious beliefs.

Somehow the idea that we so easily accept political lies was a deeply disturbing thought to me.  How can people of faith be so nonchalant when their favorite political candidate is caught in an obvious lie?  I am not talking about candidates who have earnestly tried to fulfill a campaign promise, but have failed due to lack of cooperation from others.  I am talking about candidates who brazenly lie about their opponents in television ads, or who say one thing to their supporters in private and something entirely different when they are being interviewed on television.

I am not so naive as to think that everyone always tells the truth.  In fact, as I have mentioned before on this blog, most people tell a number of lies every week.  Many of these lies are exaggerations or they are told because people want to avoid embarrassment.  However, when I hear our local politicians completely distort the record of their opponent, or when I hear them deny their own guilt even when they have been caught in a crime, I am extremely disappointed.  Just last week the Los Angeles County Assessor was arrested for taking campaign contributions from wealthy donors in return for unreasonably lowering the assessed values of their properties after he was elected.  About ten years ago, an Orange County judge was caught with child pornography and he continued to run for re-election, despite the fact that he was under house arrest, pending his trial. I have heard of many other politians who have committed crimes that were just as outrageous!  I'm sure that you know about political lies that are being told in your own communities.

I think that we people of faith should hold our politicians accountable.  Regardless of the political outcome, we should expect our candidates to make the same statements regardless of who is listening ... their supporters or the general public.  We should demand that they reveal the truth about their finances and their personal lives.  We should insist that they answer the questions they are asked, and not try to avoid the issues.  We need to hold our politicians to a standard of integrity that is at least as high as the general public. 

I understand that many people who have loyalty to a political party will vote for candidates based solely on their party affiliation.  However, I hope that most people will one day begin to look beyond party politics and make personal integrity one of the most important things they consider when choosing a candidate.

You may also be interested in reading:

The Facts About the Obama vs Romney Debate
Fact Checking Bill Clinton's Convention Speech
Factual Errors in Paul Ryan's Convention Speech
Politics and Lies

You are reading from the blog:  http://lies-and-liars.blogspot.com

Photo of religious symbols courtesy of www.en.wikipendia.com/commons