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Thursday, 28th March 2024
 

CORRUPT LEADERSHIP MARS US ALL

The News of the World Hacking scandal, and the involvement of not just journalists but police and even politicians shows that there is a real betrayal of trust by our business and political and civic leaders. How could such a betrayal arise? How could it go on for so long without any fear or nervousness? When Andy Coulson denied knowing anything about it, he was Editor of the newspaper - and he said he did not know how his news stories came. This is a serious crisis, where truth and integrity are being compromised. And for the Prime Minister to hire Andy as his Head of Communications even when the scandal was already in the public domain shows that even he was concerned more about getting tabloid news coverage than about the person behind it.

What is it about our society that leaders think they can get away with anything? Why is it that they are sure they do not need to walk their talk and can lead double lives without any fear of reprimand? Could it be because we have lost faith and belief, and therefore our ability to be reflective and to dialogue regularly with our conscience? Do our leaders ever dialogue with their conscience?

People of faith have some sort of fear of judgement, and love for something beyond themselves. They can have a sense of inner accountability which is of a far higher standard than a government law or a practical operating rule. They often also have values which they adhere to, and set their own standards of life. It is quite likely that the reason we have such a crisis of leadership in Britain today is because so few of our leaders have any faith or sense of spiritual belief.

This suggests that when we choose our leaders, we should concentrate more on judging their 'inner' lives, partly through their actions and character, and less on the skills and eloquence they possess. We must be very very careful about our choice of leaders. And lies and deceit should not be tolerated at all. The Prime Minister should resign over this scandal as he betrayed the trust of the people.

Article added on 8th July 2011 at 7:28am