Let Your Yes be Yes and Your No be No!

The art of plain-speak and its concomitant, truthfulness, is all but a lost art if the present electoral cycle in the US is any indication. Plain questions, leading questions, good questions, just – questions, are blatantly avoided whilst the candidates focus on the failings of their equally evasive opponents.

It is never a good sign of leadership when apportioning blame is employed as a means of garnering votes. It is one of the lowest forms of leadership and yet appears to be one of the most popular, a seemingly accepted means of communication amongst our political class. It is a dismissive and belittling way to treat the people voting for them. It is like watching children vying for attention with all the verve only a child can muster – until they grow up. That’s the idea, anyway.

When being interviewed our politicians have been coached to avoid difficult answering questions, to deflect, or to turn the tables on their opponent’s character or policies. They hide behind obfuscation, and avoid definitive positions, even if they hold one. What they believe is only discernible in unaccountable generalities, rarely in specifics. But the people electing them want to know specifics because it is specifics they live with, or struggle under. Nothing is more specific than spiralling living costs. And it is by specifics leaders will be held accountable (as they should) – which is the reason they aren’t specific; being general avoids being blamed for failure, or it allows you to blame something/someone else.

There is occasion for discretion due to various factors that makes a definitive statement unwise, or unable to be committed to. This being so, it should never be normal practice. Even hyperbole is a valid means of communication, but it is not a normal means of communication, as it is often employed.

It is refreshing even if we may not like someone who speaks straight, or who says things popular or otherwise plainly and sincerely. This sort of speech is often labelled as naive, but only by the cynical.

Jesus was very clear about the way we should speak, and not just by avoiding crass, unkind or corrupting words. He told us to be plain spoken by saying, let your yes be yes, and your no be no. People were hiding behind the temple, Jerusalem and the king to validate their commitments and vows. They wouldn’t stand behind their own words, so they appealed to a higher authority, thus cleverly exonerating themselves which is why Jesus said, just say yes or say no - anything more has suspect origins.

Being truthful is a virtue not understood by many of our politicians, it would seem, but it is imperative for good communication, hence good relationships. The fog of politic-speak dissipates in the presence of truth. Speaking truthfully is to be Christ-like, as it promotes trust – something our politicians are sadly deficient in, to their and our loss.

Therefore, Let our yes be yes, and our no, no – we are better people for it, the world a better place for it.