SITUATION ETHICS IN MATTERS OF TRUST
Christopher Wray – Director FBI
TRUST IS A FRAGILE THING
ONCE BROKEN IT CAN ONLY BE REPAIRED WITH GREAT EFFORT
I heard the phrase “Situation Ethics” the other day in reference to Mr. Wray and others in the current Administration and it got me to thinking.
I wanted to know the definition and so decided to Google the phrase.
I found that the term is a noun defined as: “The doctrine of flexibility in the application of moral laws according to circumstances.”
That definition either sounds sort of “snake oil salesman” slippery or an attempt to put lipstick on saying its okay to be dishonest and lie when it suits your agenda.
I would define it as having a standard of personal integrity that is negotiable depending on the current circumstances. Or, in other words, a set of core values that are “for sale” at the right price.
I remember as a boy that my father told me “Always remember that you can’t be a little bit dishonest any more than you can be a little bit pregnant. You are either honest or you are not. Be honest.” I don’t think my father was referring to being personally honest in terms of “Situation Ethics”.
I don’t know, but I would suppose that there is not a one of us who has not at some time (to our regret) told a lie or at least “fudged the truth” when we found ourselves in either an embarrassing or dangerous situation. I know that I have, am not proud of the fact, learned from it and made a decision not to do so in the future. Still, the temptation will always be there. Human nature.
If a child gets caught with their hand in the cookie jar and lies about it, we usually forgive them and try to use the incident as a teaching moment.
When an adult does this in the family or a tight knit group we become less forgiving and continued lying can lead to that individual being shunned, even ostracized or banned from the family or group.
A business that practices “Situation Ethics” will find itself losing customers and frequently either out of business or bankrupt.
When this happens in the public arena governments that utilize “Situation Ethics” lose the trust and support of the very people they are supposed to be serving and finds they must resort to totalitarian means to enforce their will on subjects who are no longer willing or participating citizens but unhappy and unwilling drones that despise being ruled as serfs.
The fundamental problem with “Situation Ethics” is that when caught lying you lose credibility and any organization you represent also loses credibility. After being caught in a lie, every time you make a statement after that, listeners wonder if it is another lie or not. It is hard to build back trust. As more lies are told, building back trust becomes impossible.
At this time in our history there is a sizeable, perhaps plurality, of United States citizens that no longer trust our government to be truthful and honest in dealing with them. It does not matter whether you agree or disagree with them, their feelings of fear and distrust of government are genuine and many fear government agencies that they previously held in respect.
You cannot legislate or buy trust. It must be earned and maintained with trustworthy conduct and practices.
Bob Bandy – August 2022
August 18, 2022 at 11:41 pm
1Hi Bob,
Nice job. I’m unable to discuss the eroding integrity of the FBI, DOJ, CIA, CDC, NIH,
or several other Campbell’s Soap bureaucratic retirement programs, (did I mention “Swamp”) without using language that would ban me from YouTube at least until there is a new administration in place. I’m thinking of studying Chinese.
Your Friend, Sam.
Im very pleased to uncover this site. I need to to thank you for ones time just for this wonderful read!! I definitely enjoyed every part of it and i also have you book marked to look at new things on your website.
2obviously like your web-site however you have to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very troublesome to inform the truth however I¦ll certainly come back again.
3Thanks for you input on the spelling. I use “spell check” and also google words I think look “wrong”.
4I’m still learning from you, as I’m trying to reach my goals. I absolutely liked reading everything that is written on your site.Keep the information coming. I enjoyed it!
5It is actually a nice and useful piece of information. I¦m happy that you shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
6Yay google is my world beater aided me to find this great internet site! .
7My brother recommended I might like this blog. He was totally right. This post truly made my day. You cann’t imagine simply how much time I had spent for this info! Thanks!
8You are a very intelligent person!
9Thank you, I have just been looking for information about this subject for ages and yours is the best I’ve discovered so far. But, what about the conclusion? Are you sure about the source?
10Enjoyed examining this, very good stuff, thankyou. “We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip little by little at a truth we find bitter.” by Denis Diderot.
11Your place is valueble for me. Thanks!…
12Spot on with this write-up, I really think this web site wants far more consideration. I’ll most likely be once more to read way more, thanks for that info.
13