Editorial: Beware of polls obstructing justice and truth

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

3106 Edition

September 05~11, 2011

Editorial

Editorial: Beware of polls obstructing justice and truth

Translated by Lydia Ma

In this day and age, opinion polls are a significant factor explaining every 
national leaders’ decisions. However, knowing people’s wishes doesn’t mean that 
a leader must always follow through on them, as many opinions are born out of 
selfishness. If a politician were to pander to every whim of the electorate, 
the ballot box would take over and obstruct justice and truth.

A classic case of opinion polls obstructing justice and truth is the trial of 
Jesus by Pontius Pilate. Pilate’s fear of a Jewish revolt and his fear that 
doing the right but unpopular thing might ruin his political career, prompted 
him to compromise the truth and allow opinion polls to dictate his judgment.

In contrast to Pilate, Jesus’ words when pressured from all sides were: “My 
kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my 
arrest by the Jews.” (Matthew 18:36). Jesus valued the truth more than people’s 
opinions and being crowned king at the time. He also knew that his kingdom 
would be one founded on truth.

To show the world the truth about God’s kingdom, Jesus stepped down into this 
world to show God to this world, as well as demonstrate real justice and mercy. 
To bear witness to God’s justice and love, Jesus became obedient even to the 
point of death and sacrifice on the cross. 

Pilate and other world leaders should take their cue from Jesus and model how 
he held onto principles such as truth and justice. Sadly, few leaders in 
today’s society will do that. They often repeat Pilate’s mistake and this is 
especially evident during election campaigns. Because our leaders are led by 
opinion polls rather than their consciences, justice can’t take root in our 
society.

A recent bestseller noted that democracy demands an explanation for anything we 
insist is just, and democracy doesn’t buy the saying that “it’s right because I 
said so.” Such a saying is actually reminiscent of the times when judges ruled 
the Israelites. During that period, “everyone did as he saw fit” (Judges 21:25) 
and therefore, impartial justice and truth were absent in society.

At the end of the day, whether justice prevails in society depends on two 
factors: First, whether our leaders value justice above the number of votes in 
their favor, and second, whether our citizenry values truth and is raised in 
the truth. 

It’s almost election season in Taiwan, and we will be bombarded with polls and 
surveys in the next few months. Candidates, don’t relegate justice to the 
back-burner. Electorate, don’t let your votes or opinions obstruct the truth.

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