Hear Me Roar: Why is it so hard to tell the truth?

If someone asks for your definition of “safety”, would it match that of a six-year-old? A police officer? A member of Congress? A taxi driver? If we cannot agree on a common word like safety, we have a lot of work to do to bridge the communications gap within our communities and families. How do we get to a point where we are talking to each other, rather than at each other?

Life is filled with difficult decisions, decisions often made without context or sufficient information. Too often we are given “yes” or “no” options, that isn’t the way we live. Few things are all good or all bad. Somethings in moderation are fine, others will kill you. Information, honest, unbiased information is essential to making the right choice.

Often enough people play to emotions. It is very effective, but it isn’t honest, and it isn’t informative. Today, on Facebook someone posted a strong health lion, seemingly photographed on the plains of Africa with the wind gently blowing through his full mane. It proclaimed him to be free and responsible for his own life, not dependent on others.

That was juxtaposed to a photo, grainy and dark, of a caged lion, looking depressed and helpless. That photo was captioned with, he has free medical care, food, and housing. We get the point of these two captions and pictures. It’s just not accurate.

This was commenting on our lives as humans…free and independent, taking care of all our own needs, vs. dependent on government. Being imprisoned by our needs being met, limiting our freedoms, putting us in cages.

A lion in the wild has a short lifespan and a difficult existence. Finding food, facing often brutal weather conditions and the adverse impact of climate change. Infection, disease, insects, fights, eviction from the pride and worse is the average existence for a majority of wild lions. As the Kris Kristofferson song goes, “Freedoms just another word for nothing left to lose.” and that is indeed a kind of freedom, when freedom means being on your own in the wild, dependent on your wits and abilities.

There are any number of reasons human beings formed towns and villages, built societies, and institutions and came in from the wild. There are many reasons human beings came to realize that public education, and other social services were essential for our survival, humanity, and dignity. There are reasons why we have first responders, well trained women and men willing to put themselves in harms way to keep the greater community safe from tragedy. It is because photographs, by themselves, with no context, do not tell the whole truth.

Both sides of any debate can tug at heartstrings, get the heart pumping, or bring a tear to the eye, but it does not make it true. It does limit our ability to have a legitimate discussion on issues, it does divide us, it does present falsities as truth. It is not informational or helpful.

Context and truth, facts and information might not get you to jump up from a television or computer screen to write a check or call in a donation, but it is the only way we can pull ourselves out of the morass we are in here in and stop kicking the proverbial can down the road.

If offering help, when needed, was more about building community and fostering partnerships than charity, what might that do for restoring human dignity? If extending a hand to a friend, neighbor, or official was the norm, instead of pointing fingers, what might that do for building a stronger society? If law enforcement, domestic and national security were certified in human rights learning and structured on a human rights, humanity-first, platform, might that increase trust, gain support, and offer more confidence to the public? Would that result in their respective jobs becoming safer, as the public’s trust in them grew? There are indeed ways to climb out of the hole we have been digging since humans first recognized differences between us, ignoring the similarities that are far greater and more useful.

It is within each and everyone of us to alter the trajectory of history. One small step for all 7.5 billion people on the planet is a giant step for humankind.

Join us in the Human Rights Peaceful Revolution, to save human beings and the planet we call home. Not Right or Left, just focused on a future we would be proud to leave to future generations. They are counting on us to do the right thing for each other and for them.