Half Truths
The crew on board a large freighter were having a party. Somehow the first mate got drunk. So that night the captain wrote into the record of the day: “The first mate was drunk today.”
The next day the mate saw it and asked the captain to take it out of the record. Otherwise, he might lose his job. And besides, it was a first offense. The captain refused, saying: “It’s a fact; and into the record it goes.”
Some days later it was the mate’s turn to take his watch duty on the bridge. And that also meant that he had to write the record for the day. He did. He duly recorded the location of the ship, its speed, and the distance it covered that day. Then he also added a line which said: “The captain was sober today.”
The next day the captain saw it and protested, that this would leave an altogether false impression… It seemed to hint that it was unusual for the captain to be sober. But the mate answered exactly as the captain had to him: “It’s a fact; and so into the record it goes.”
A thing may be true, but the circumstances and way of telling it may give the opposite message. In the Old Testament Zechariah’s book would have said it this way: “Render true judgment and show kindness.” 7:9
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