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The general election: truth, lies, politicians and our own responsibilities

By Jill Segger
January 30, 2015

A question for every one of us: how particular are you about truth and accuracy if a statement gives you an advantage or feeds your confirmation bias? Over the next 98 days, we are going to see and hear a lot of information which will either do this, or will make us fume and curse its falsity.

It is a commonplace to insist that all politicians lie. Some most evidently do. Others are more subtle in adapting facts to suit their ends. The careful omission of the inconvenient, the partial truth, the dodgy bar chart, the refusal to admit error – these are all offences against truth and we experience them every day from all areas of the political spectrum. The outright lie is easily nailed; the manipulation of information less so.

But the consequences are the same: an electorate which increasingly does not believe anything individual politicians or their parties say. It is blindingly obvious that this is a desperate state of affairs for the health of democracy. Its remedy lies as much with us, the voters, as with the politicians who seek our votes.

If we are unable to be honest about our own capacity to deceive ourselves (and beware that comforting conjugation “I have well-founded opinions, you have prejudices”), we will be ill-placed to challenge the culture of contempt and cynicism which has increased on such a dramatic scale over the last few years.

As the leaflets start to arrive on our doormats and the slogans and hashtags combine to insult our intelligence, the temptation to rage against what we oppose while neglecting to give honest scrutiny to the claims and policies of our 'own side' will grow. But truth is not to be divided.

Our society is angry and riven with distress. It has reason to be so and there is arguably far more at stake over justice and mercy than has been the case in recent elections. If we will not be honest with ourselves about our reactions, we will not be able to hold politicians to account. Now is the time to show them that we want a higher standard of truthfulness, a space where honesty may hold the ring and deceit be exposed. Unexamined rage will not suffice.

So here is a small challenge: make a list of questions about the claims made by parties; do your research; prepare your questions and present them to the canvassers, the candidates and the incumbents of power. Pose them in person, by letter, by email. Listen to the answers and show your commitment to integrity as the primary virtue for a better common life. It is the virtue which we must demand from ourselves as much as from those in public life.

* More on 2015 General Election issues from Ekklesia: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/generalelection2015
Views expressed in news briefs and by commentators on GE15 are not necessarily those of Ekklesia.

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© Jill Segger is an Associate Director of Ekklesia with particular involvement in editorial issues. She is a freelance writer who contributes to the Church Times, Catholic Herald, Tribune, Reform and The Friend, among other publications. Jill is an active Quaker. See: http://www.journalistdirectory.com/journalist/TQig/Jill-Segger You can follow Jill on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/quakerpen

Although the views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Ekklesia, the article may reflect Ekklesia's values. If you use Ekklesia's news briefings please consider making a donation to sponsor Ekklesia's work here.