c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Balmy days in January, a snow-less winter in the Northeast, polar ice cap crumbling, predictions of the hottest year in Earth’s recorded history _ sounds like “global warming” to me.

But what do I know?

Exactly. Is anyone telling us the truth?

With the petroleum industry engaged in disinformation and the auto industry resisting change; with politicians rewarding friends at the expense of truth about human-caused greenhouse gases; and with religion focused on issues of disturbing triviality, who will help the public to make informed decisions about global warming?

Or, for that matter, any issue? Every day, one more lid is lifted and a pattern of deceit revealed.

From the handling of post-Katrina relief funds to sexual abuse by clergy to the state of affairs in Iraq to stock options awarded titans of industry, we are awash in lies. It’s as if leaders in government, athletics, industry, finance and education all concluded that candor is a losing strategy, people will accept lies eventually, and staying ahead justifies pathological dishonesty.

The world is confusing and dangerous enough if one considers facts. How much more bewildering it seems when facts cannot be had, public disclosure comes out as “spin,” and it takes lawsuits to unlock public records.

Two institutions hold the key _ journalism and religion _ because of their historic commission to pursue unpopular truths. But they are, unfortunately, on the bubble.

At a time of declining circulation and pressure from online media, traditional news sources like newspapers and television face constant pressure to slant their coverage and to comply with the powerful.

Some pressure comes from short-sighted advertisers who want numbers, not informed consumers. Some comes from journalism itself, as profit-minded corporations acquire media outlets and show little appetite for boat-rocking, and as ambitious journalists play loose with facts.

Some pressure comes from government, which chips away at freedom of the press to the point where reporters face imprisonment just for doing their jobs.

Religion, while claiming to be in the “truth” business, seems more concerned with preserving its franchise through selective interpretations of Scripture, resisting science, seeking political allies, and telling congregants what they want to hear.

With membership declining in most historic denominations _ and with partisans using those declines to bash each other, rather than to contemplate fresh approaches _ it can seem prudent to give truth-telling a rest. It’s a rare preacher who will tell the truth to people wanting comfort, especially when probing for truth leads inexorably away from the false certainties of doctrine and institution and toward self-examination and self-sacrifice.

If this age of dishonesty isn’t to overwhelm us, journalism must rediscover its zeal for informing the populace, rather than presenting us as a prize to advertisers. We, in turn, must give up our preference for being entertained, rather than informed.

Religion must stop making franchise-protection its top priority and partisan shouting its preferred voice. Religion’s staying in business means little if it cannot speak the truth boldly. Part of boldness is seeing the gray areas, seeing the ambiguities and emulating Jesus in valuing parable over law.

Speaking with false certainty, just because people crave certainty, trivializes the religious enterprise and underestimates the faithful. We, in turn, must seek that maturity which doesn’t need false certainty.

Otherwise, catastrophes like global warming will catch us unprepared, politicians will destroy democracy, and our common life will crumble.

Honestly, it’s that serious.

(Tom Ehrich is a writer, consultant and leader of workshops. His book, “Just Wondering, Jesus: 100 Questions People Want to Ask,” was published by Morehouse Publishing. An Episcopal priest, he lives in Durham, N.C. His Web site is http://www.onajourney.org.)

KRE/PH END EHRICH

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