Lack of trust in clery disillusioning

After almost six years of writing Faith and Life columns, I have discovered that half of my potential readers don't trust me! That's what an annual Gallup Poll concluded, and who am I to argue with George Gallup?

I'm a clergyman - retired, but still clergy - and of the people surveyed, only 56% rated the clergy as being high in honesty and ethical standards. Making it even worse, I'm also a journalist, and barely one-quarter of the respondents thought journalists are trustworthy when it comes to honesty and ethics.

Nurses, pharmacists, teachers, and physicians were at the top. Law enforcement officers, interestingly, tied the clergy for fifth place.

Also disillusioning is the large percentage of professions that inspire even less confidence than the clergy. With nearly half the populace not trusting us, we still ranked near the top of the 21 professions included in the survey: Number five, to be exact. No wonder one of the most important rules of life is "caveat emptor" - "let the buyer beware."

So, you accountants, bankers, business executives, and funeral directors, hold your tongues and stifle your laughter. You fared worse than I did.

We religious leaders should be embarrassed that we are regarded as scrupulously honest and ethical by only half of the population. A major part of the problem probably involves the small number of clergy who have received large media attention because they have been accused of sexual misconduct and crimes. There also is the highly publicized but fairly small minority of clergy who are out to build personal empires rather than the kingdom of God. It's easy to paint all of us with the same brush.

I can't speak for the rest of the professions, but I can comment on the clergy. Like everybody else we need to do a better job of policing our ranks. We need to stop making excuses for clergy who been a moral disgrace. Those persons are a small part of the total clergy population but they have brought shame to us all because we've continued to tolerate their abuses.

We also need to hold ourselves to high standards. We made the decision to join the clergy ranks, and the higher standards go with the territory. Too often we settle for being adequate when we could be excellent. We can't be perfect, but we shouldn't settle for average, either.

Clergy are human beings and they make mistakes. Society puts us on a higher pedestal than it does most people. Often it's a pedestal so high no one could stay there for long. When we fall, the fall is great and onlookers wag their heads.

I think most of the professions in the survey need the same kind of understanding. We distrust them because of the actions of a minority of their members, not because most of the members can't be trusted.

I know outstanding accountants, bankers, business executives, funeral directors, and journalists. They may make mistakes, but they work hard and try hard to be the best they can be in their profession. May their ranks increase! I hate to see them lumped in with the minority who give any profession a bad name.