Truth, Honesty, and a Political Turn

Magna est veritas et praevalebit—Truth is great and will prevail.

“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.”—Marcus Aurelius

“Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.”– Henry David Thoreau [Sun, Moon in Cancer, stellium in Sagittarius, Aquarius rising]

“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice, lying, and greed.  If people all over the world…would do this, it would change the world.”—William Faulkner [Sun in Libra, Moon in Virgo, Cancer rising, Mercury with Jupiter, close sextiles to Saturn and Uranus, and square to Neptune]

 

Why is it important to tell the truth?  In order to answer that, let’s turn it around and look at the reasons people lie.  The root of lying seems to be a desire to keep things hidden—an infidelity, a mistake, a theft, an accident where one was negligent, avoidance of criticism, a desire to besmirch a person or political position, protection of one’s ego, and to avoid prosecution for a crime.  Lies are also told to rally proponents of a cause or party and to keep the faithful faithful.

J.P. Morgan, famous banker—he was an Aries with a Virgo Moon and a conjunction of Mars and Jupiter in Leo—observed that a person had two reasons for doing something:  one that sounds good and the real one.  My friend acquired an administrative credential in education.  He told me what some students said were the real reasons they wanted to be school administrators.  One said, “I like to have people do things for me.”  Others wanted more money.  Others liked the perceived rise in status, though a principalship is really a mid level management position.  Had these folks made a public statement, it would probably have related to bettering the lives of others.

I think some people believe that lying in necessary.   You have to be a politician in this position they might say.  I watched a school superintendent filter his decisions through a political lens.  Fair play and right and wrong were tossed out the window.

Trust is a cornerstone in relationships.  They will not stand without integrity.

In a divisive time where people were grabbing each other by their throats, Lincoln stood above the rest.  He said, “I am a firm believer in the people.  If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis.”

In today’s milieu lies propagate the internet. Political discourse is not civil.  Anger leads to vindictiveness, a desire to get even, and more lies.

In our republic with its democratically elected officials, it is vital that the truth be told so that voters will fully grasp the issues of the day.

Much false information is spread over the internet.  People seem quite susceptible to it, for they lean to material that fits in with their belief systems.  For our republic to work, this must come to a grinding halt.  An obvious solution is term limits.  Another is labelling internet content as either true or false.

 

An Honor Roll of the Honest

“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissensions, which in different ages and countries has perpetuated the most horrid enmities, is itself a frightful despotism.  The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction , more able or fortunate than his competitors, turns the disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.”—George Washington  (Internet article “George Washington on Avoiding the Two Party System” by Timothy Reeves, July 24, 2011, blog: tenthamendmentcenter.com) [Washington was a Pisces with the Moon in Capricorn.]

William Ewart Gladstone was one of England’s greatest prime ministers. He was noted for his probity.  Gladstone was a Capricorn with the same sign rising.  His Moon was in Libra.  He said, “Nothing that is morally wrong can be politically right.”

Mahatma Gandhi said, “An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propogation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it. Truth stands, even if there be no public support.”  It is self-sustained.” Gandhi had the Sun and Ascendant in Libra, and his Moon was in Leo.

Abraham Lincoln had a lawyer’s knack for stretching the truth without breaking it.  He opined that if one could not be honest one should not be a lawyer.  Lincoln was an Aquarius with the Moon in Capricorn.

 

Conclusion

I do not think anyone is perfectly honest—with themselves or others.  My concern is that many do not seem to think it is even of much importance.     I hope this article in some small way can begin to change that.

 

Brian Hill