By Dr. Robert Saul | In many ways, the pursuit of truth is just the preamble to using the truth with integrity. Pursuing the truth and then applying the truth requires the deep understanding that you have to stay “true” to the truth if you are going to make a difference going forward.
Forces that are difficult to control are often pushing you in different directions to deviate from truth-telling and not capitulating to those who are using false information to peddle a false narrative. Sometimes these forces are subtle and their effects minimal, but these forces can also be forceful in their mal-influence and their effects corrosive (or even corrupt) in their outcome.
Seeking the truth requires certain key elements:
- Active listening – truth seekers are open to listen to various viewpoints and actually process them.
- Reading – truth seekers are engaged readers. By engaged, I mean reading properly vetted materials that are not intentionally biased.
- Openness to diverse views – Without the ability to process diverse views we are unable inability to engage in rational discourse.
- Humility – When one is humble, they recognize their own humanity and maintain a degree of modesty.
- Sincerity – The ability to refrain from deceit or hypocrisy reveals one’s commitment to pursue facts and truth with honesty.
- Role of science – The scientific method involves careful observation, a healthy but rigorous skepticism about what is observed, and an acceptance that one should be cautious about the interpretation.
After seeking the truth, maintaining fidelity to the truth, even when it is unpopular or shouted down as untrue, requires a unique quality. Robert F. Kennedy talked about the quality of moral courage, a quality that is difficult to maintain in the face of mounting pressure. He is quoted as saying that “moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change…Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their peers, the censure of their colleagues, [and] the wrath of their society.”
He distinguishes moral courage from the type of courage that is typically discussed with the courage shown in battle. His description does not diminish the latter as it emphasizes the difficulty to stay the course and follow the truth in situations that demand moral integrity, in situations where the noise around us can be confusing, in situations where we need to stand strong, and in situations where we might be made to feel uncomfortable. I would agree that moral courage is the measure of our ability to stay with the truth when you are being challenged to capitulate to other forces. The sincerity and humility of truth-seeking would appear to be antithetical to the strength needed for moral courage, but they are critical to adhere to the pursuit of moral courage.
The list of people with moral courage and the willingness to put up with potential retribution is long – Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis, Rabbi Israel Dresner, Daniel Ellsberg, Rosa Parks, Franz Jägerstätter, the Little Rock Nine, and so many others. Recently, so many have been willing to speak truth to power – William Taylor, Colonel Vindman, Maria Yovanovitch, Brad Raffensperger, and others – to assure that truth can lead the way. Too often those with moral courage have been singled out for verbal abuse and recrimination. Yet the ability to hold their ground and stay the course and to let right triumph over might displays the moral courage necessary to stay true to the truth. We will all waver at times, so this is a difficult virtue to uphold.
Moral courage has become a commodity that seems to be undervalued. Accepting lies or falsehoods simply because they are repeated frequently has become too commonplace. Moral courage should a part of each of our lives but unfortunately it is not.
How do we change that? Well, those of us in trusted positions (medicine, law, clergy, the press, and others) need to maintain moral integrity…but really, all of us should do the same. The unsung heroes are those that uphold that standard and are not even “required” to do it. They do it because it is the right thing to do. And we are all better for it.
Dr. Robert Saul is a Greenville pediatrician and the author of “My Children’s Children: Raising Young Citizens in the Age of Columbine” and “All About Children.” Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
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