To Tell The Truth

Watch the news today, and you know we're being lied to.  From the president, to the police, to the Catholic Church, we are constantly being lied to.  How do you know who to believe?  In the age of instant fact checking, we CAN check statements that people are being made and make up our own minds about what is the truth.

Lying by world leaders is not new.  It's been going on for centuries, but it does seem to be more prevalent and more often than in days gone by.  So, what do we tell our children?

We raise our children stressing the importance of "telling the truth."  How often did you say to your children, "Don't lie to me."  So what do we tell our children who hear us talk about the lies that the government and religious leaders are telling us?  How are they going to grow up having trust in anyone?

Everyone tells little lies, like "If Martha calls, tell her I'm not home."  This is a harmless lie, and children early on  understand the difference between a big lie and a white lie.  I don't know how parents explain the lying that exists today to their children.  I'm glad I don't have to do it.  It's an interesting issue to think about, and our discussion group at Ocean Hills tackled it this morning.  Our conclusion was that adults must fact check and investigate to see if they are being told the truth.  Thank goodness we have great investigative reporters that are tenacious and won't give up in their search to get to the truth.  How to raise children to tell the truth is a bit harder.  I fear that future generations will grow up without trust.