Paul Richardson: The truth be told

The accumulation of events has certainly brought out a plethora of responses. I, like everyone else, have an opinion. 

Been keeping that to myself, however, because fortunately when I write, I am a much better person than the live version. The live version tends to give an emotional response. 

A straight-forward, unedited, emotional response that often in retrospect the other voices in my head all concur that a better phrasing was available.

It occurs to me that a lot of the recent events have been physical manifestations of straight-forward, unedited, emotional responses emanating from a variety of people who have concluded that their voice is now significant.

It is my assessment that this entire situation began with the ancient story of Adam, a man that bought into a deception only to encounter dire consequences. Please understand that I am not pointing my finger in any specific direction as it is my conclusion that no one or no particular group has an exclusivity on deception. It is apparent that from that ancient time forward, deceit has become a part of the human experience.

I can’t give you an exact formula for detecting or identifying deception, but I do believe that there may be some tell-tale signs. Deception will almost always call for immediate action. There are other things that will require immediate action, but deception will demand it as if there is given time, it will be revealed for what it really is. Truth is always consistent. What is true now, was true into the distant past and will be true in the future, regardless of the passage of time.

Deception will lend itself to one believing that it is an original thought or that one reasoned it out on their own. The deceiver doesn’t care if they get credit for the result or not. In fact, they would prefer to benefit, but not be associated with the result.

Once deceived, people will start out with small compromises that seem inconsequential. Those small compromises will compound until there are huge and drastic results.

When questioned about the form of government the convention created, Ben Franklin replied, “A Republic, ma’am, if you can keep it.” It is common to hear people refer to “our democracy” while, in reality, the United States is a constitutional federal republic. A democracy is ran by the people, while a constitutional federal republic is based on a system. A system of laws and a constitution that provides protection for the citizens and governmental operational procedures.

It is a lack of understanding of these meanings that leads to the logic that each individual voice is important and significant. While we have the freedom to express ourselves accordingly, our voice is only important as it is delivered in context of the processes afforded to us by the constitution. For example, voting is a process through which our voice takes on significance.

As I sit back here in my remote location in southwest Missouri, with an inconsequential opinion, it is time that will reveal what is truth and what is not.

(Paul Richardson's column, The Horse I Rode In On is published weekly in the Neosho Daily News, Seneca News-Dispatch, Aurora Advertiser and on the Turner Report.)