Broadcast October 15 2010
The tragic and unnecessary death of the hostage Linda Norgrove has only been made worse by the succession of revelations surrounding how she died. And now we hear that as a result of the investigation process, a soldier is to face disciplinary charges for throwing the grenade now believed to have killed Linda in the failed rescue attempt. One thing is certain, and it is that the truth of what happened is vastly different from the story that was originally released by Nato which claimed that she had been killed by her captives who had detonated a suicide vest.
This version of events is now shown to be quite untrue, and it is not the first time that Nato have released reports from Afghanistan which are entirely misleading. For example, there was the bombing of the wedding party in 2008 - first denied then later admitted. And there was the killing of three women blamed on militants, but which turned out to be the work of Nato forces. At a time when people find it hard to see the justification for wars in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, misleading stories whether accidental, deliberate or simply premature encourage no one.
But maybe there are some things for us to reflect on as a society.
Could it be that our lack of patience and our desire to hear the news and uncover the stories today (and not tomorrow) encourages incomplete investigation and the release of half-baked speculative reports?
And does that appetite mean that we as a society sit too lightly with honesty? We’re happy to be honest when it doesn’t cost us anything, but if it means sacrificing something to be honest we abandon the virtue. Truth requires that honesty is practiced at all times. Otherwise we are being economical with the truth. And without honesty, trust breaks down. And so do relationships.
One of the great marks of Jesus was his honesty. He was honest with his friends and with his enemies, and he was honest even when it was unpopular and inconvenient. But this isn’t something we can delegate to famous religious leaders like Jesus.
We all need to learn to practice honesty in our lives and our relationships if our society is going to be as healthy as it should be.