Reply #47: Put me down as one who blames the clergy [View All]

[nichomachus]

I don't blame the voters as much as the people who whipped them up with fear, lies, and distortions.

The devil's work here was done in the churches. Most people -- of whatever race -- who go to church are good people trying to do the right thing. They look to their "spiritual leaders" to help them, inform them, and give them good advice. Maybe they put too much trust in those leaders, but the leaders hold themselves out as having "the truth."

And because the leaders seek the trust of their followers, once the followers give that trust, the leaders assume an overwhelming obligation to be truthful -- underline overwhelming.

In this case, they were not. They lied. They lied blatantly. They purposely deceived their followers. They betrayed the trust they were given.

That is inexcusable.

I'm not absolving the voters for not getting better information, but for many of them, they went to the best place they knew and they were deceived by people who should have known better.

I put this in the same class as teachers who sexually abuse students or adults who abuse children in their care. The clergy had a position of power and extreme trust. They abused that power and they violated the trust of the people who look to them for guidance and truth.