To tell the truth

I have followed with moderate interest the indictment of Lewis “Scooter” Libby by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald on five counts related to obstruction of justice, perjury and the giving of false statements. What I find interesting is that while Fitzgerald’s job was to determine who blew Valerie Plame’s cover as a CIA operative, he has not filed any indictments related to her exposure. I personally doubt that anyone will ever be charged with blowing her cover. From what I gather from our friendly news sources (always eager to cover a White House scandal) Plame wasn’t much of a “secret” agent in the first place. So why do we have indictments?

The fact is, Scooter Libby and company are not in trouble for blowing someone’s cover, but for trying to cover their rears when they realized that they might have done so illegally. Now, I believe that Libby deserves a fair trial. I don’t want to label him a liar and a cheat, not yet. But if the indictments point to the truth, I think we all ought to be disappointed by his actions. Instead of being upfront and honest about his activities, Libby did his best to remove himself from a potentially icky situation. That he may have had to lie seems to have been an inconsequential inconvenience for him. Now he has been indicted and faces the consequences of his actions.

Of all parties, you think that the Republicans would recognize the danger of engaging in lying and half-truth telling. Remember, President Nixon had to resign from office because he too was involved in a cover-up. Rather than tell the truth, he tried to cover for others mistakes. In the process, the lies he told caused more damage to his presidency than the original Watergate break-in. You would think that Republicans would have learned their lesson! The sad reality is though, that power corrupts all of us, no matter our political persuasion. It is human nature for us to try and gloss over our own mistakes, especially when those mistakes threaten our power.

I know that in my own life, I have told many a lie to cover a mistake that I made. Rather than face the embarrassment of being exposed as a fraud, a cheat, as someone who cuts corners, I tried to save face through deceit. Invariably, I ended up in more trouble for lying than for making the original mistake. Instead of being honest about my sin and facing the music, I just dug myself deeper into trouble. Even when I managed to pull off the cover-up, I ended up with an overwhelming feeling of guilt and shame for having to hide. In the end, carrying around this burden of guilt and shame damaged my sense of self-worth much more than coming clean in t he first place ever would have.

We all know the old saying: “the truth shall set you free.” Indeed, telling the truth frees us from the baggage that comes from cover-ups and lies. However, as a Christian I also believe that I have been sent free by the Truth. I am free to tell the truth because the Light of Truth has shined into the darkest corner of my life and exposed me for who I am—a sinner. Once I come to grips with that reality, I am humbled enough to accept God’s grace given to us through Jesus Christ. When I live under the grace of God I have no fear in telling the truth. Even if I were to face condemnation and rejection by my friends, families and enemies for doing so, I know that God forgives me. I am not afraid to take responsibility for my actions because I know that with God’s help my mistakes don’t have to be stumbling blocks but stepping stones toward leading a righteous, holy life.

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.
—Romans 3:21-24