The truth will ultimately emerge
Why do some politicians and educators seem prone to ratchet up their resumes? They should know that eventually untrue claims of experience or education will be uncovered by inquisitive reporters. Then the fiction writer's credibility will be severely damaged, sometimes resulting in the loss of a job.
In Metropolitan Chicago in recent years, political candidates and educators have been caught bloating their bios with degrees that they have not earned, schools they have not attended and awards that they had not received.
"Truth will out," John Dean observed during the Watergate hearings. The truth has a fascinating and relentless way of bubbling to the surface no matter how hard attempts are made to suppress it.
That's what Wes Pippert told some of my journalism students and me when we visited him in the U.S. Senate hearing room where the Watergate hearings were held. Wes was a United Press International reporter for 30 years and covered Watergate. He earned a master's degree in Old Testament studies here at Wheaton College.
"Tell the truth to your neighbor," exhorted the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 8:16, New Living Translation). Good advice in Bible times and in ours as well.
Glenn F. Arnold
Wheaton