Dishonesty is rampant

Sunday, Feb. 12, marked the 203rd birthday of Abraham Lincoln. During his presidential campaign, he was nicknamed “Honest Abe” because he once walked several miles to return a few cents change from his family’s dry goods store.

Fast-forward to the present. The December/January edition of Alaska magazine featured an article about fisheries that are intentionally mislabeling seafood in order to deceive consumers. What may be labeled as king salmon could, in fact, be silver. Hatchery-grown fish are sometimes pawned off as wild.

Meanwhile, a recent edition of Reader’s Digest featured the growing number of college students paying others to download papers from the Internet for the purpose of plagiarism.

Dishonesty seems to be the new mantra of America. Whether it’s a politician telling us what we want to hear or newspapers (including this one) putting their slant on the news, we seem to have a serious integrity deficiency. Even the Christian church has not been immune to this trend.

Be honest. Potential employers will be more impressed by your candor than your exaggerations. The IRS may not discern your fudging, but why take a chance? A person who has lost their integrity has lost their credibility.

Douglas R. Benn

Spokane