Archive: Opinions

Society relies upon trust.  Families rely upon trust.  Every aspect of our existence relies upon a level of trust that we expect from those who provide a service or offer protection.  In fact, Americans take the collective trust for granted.  In our naïveté, we believe that this trust is an unbreakable bond among those in positions of authority and those to whom they are entrusted to serve. 

This bond of trust was recently violated in a most unexpected way.  Secret Service Agents, assigned to the President’s detail in Columbia, have been accused of soliciting prostitutes and bringing them back to their hotel rooms just days before the President was to arrive.  This breach in security could have had terrible consequences for the President and our national security.  Fortunately, it did not.

Had this incident with the Secret Service been the only one we have encountered, our sense of vulnerability would not be a topic of debate.  Sadly, other aspects of society have faced a breakdown of trust.  Members of the clergy, those guardians of pastoral care and guidance over children and young adults, have broken a sacred and mutually assumed trust.  Men and women from many religious denominations have been accused and convicted of physical and sexual abuse with those who they were sworn to protect. 

Politicians have been involved in deceit as well.  Men and women given the authority to govern, have been caught stealing tax dollars, accepting bribes and gifts, and using their power to win favor and coerce those who have little or no power to defend themselves.  The most recent case involving John Edwards defines the extent to which an individual will risk breaking the bonds of trust with family, friends and supporters in order to satisfy his desires. 

The breakdown of trust among those we have empowered to protect and defend us is a serious breech of contract.  The Secret Service agents in Columbia, clergy, and politicians who break that bond of trust disrupt the very essence of our welfare public safety.  There actions are not merely a crime committed against an individual or group of people.  It is a direct attack against the general trust that we all expect in a democracy. 

This general trust is what makes all of society run efficiently and safely.  We expect law enforcement officials to defend us against criminals and not aim their guns at unarmed citizens.  We expect firefighters to put out fires and rescue trapped individuals and not arrive at a scene to taunt helpless victims die a horrific death. And we hold clergy to protect not abuse our youth.

When this breach of trust occurs, it is society’s duty to expose these injustices. No one is exempt from the law because of their status as an officer, government official, politician, clergy person, or ordinary citizen.  Individuals who are accused of breaking that bond of trust, ought to be tried, and if found guilty, be sentenced to serve time commensurate with their crime. 

A democracy runs on trust.  It was not by chance that the founders of this nation used as its motto, “In God We Trust.”  Human beings are tempted and occasionally abuse their power and break the sacred bond of trust.  Society needs to bring those to justice who would jeopardize this sacred bond between those in power and those who rely on them to perform their duty. And that is to the Point.

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