OPINION:
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for global action to curb disinformation and stop conspiracy theories in their tracks, saying among the many lessons learned from the coronavirus is the need to restore “integrity” in the public discussion of science — and to do so, he added, “We must make lying wrong again.”
In U.N.-speak, this is a call to crack down on free speech.
In certain situations in America, lying is against the law. Taxpayers can’t tell the Internal Revenue Service about business exemptions that aren’t real. Citizens can’t call in fabricated crimes to police. Witnesses can’t provide false testimony in a court of law. Advertisers can’t misrepresent the nature or qualities of their goods or services. And so on and so forth — there are actual laws against lying in certain circumstances, in certain circumstances that are aligned with the labels of libel and slander, perjury, obstructing justice and the like.
But it’s not a crime, say, to lie about age or hair color or income level to a date; lie about employment and societal status during a class reunion; lie about athletic accomplishments while engaging in sideline banter with bystanders; lie about education levels and degrees during a meet-and-greet at a bar. It’s not even illegal for politicians to lie to their constituents — and all the politicians, no doubt, go, “whew.”
Are these types of lies then to be dismissed, and these types of liars then to be excused?
No. Not in a moral sense. In a moral sense, a lie is a lie is a lie, and lies are wrong. The motivations for some lies may be right — for instance, when Rahab of the Bible lied to the guards of Jericho in order to save the Israeli spies from certain death. The lie itself, though, is still a lie.
But when Guterres says in the context of discussing the need for truthful information on the coronavirus, on future pandemics and on the science and medical truths of the coronavirus and health issues — when he says “we must make lying wrong again,” what he’s really saying is for the global government to crack down on speech that counters the global government’s preferred viewpoints by characterizing the countering viewpoints as lies. What he’s really saying is the United Nations, the select few in global government, should be the authorities on what constitutes truth versus what constitutes a lie. Guterres wants the United Nations to hold the power to determine what facts get presented as facts. He wants the United Nations to be the gate guard of proper speech, of acceptable rhetoric, of suitable expressions.
More specifically, Guterres wants social media executives to take the censorship against conservatives, against free thinkers, against Christians, against individualists to a whole new level. He doesn’t admit that, of course. But this is the path he walks.
He sees free speech as an impediment to the implementation of his “Our Common Agenda,” which is a sort of roadmap to total top-down global controls on citizens of the world using fear — fear of pandemics, fear of climate change, fear of inequality and discrimination — as the primary fuel.
“A central theme of my report is that we must expand our field of vision, using new technologies … while strengthening global coordination and introducing new voices to decision-making processes,” Guterres said.
He wants the United Nations to control financial institutions. He wants the United Nations to take charge of educating young people. He wants the United Nations to be the decider of human rights. He wants the United Nations to be the determiner of proper speech.
“My report also urges all governments to reinvigorate action on human rights, including in our online lives,” Guterres said. “I urge steps to achieve Internet access for all as a basic human right by 2030. And I propose global action to tackle disinformation and conspiracy theories, and promote facts and science in public discourse. We must make lying wrong again.”
Those who question the so-called science, say, of wearing a face mask, wearing two face masks, wearing plastic shields over their faces as means of stopping the spread of a virus? Liars. Liars who must be prosecuted. Liars who must be prosecuted and kept away from others, for their own safety, for others’ own security. Those who oppose the COVID-19 closure of schools, the shuttering of churches, the shutdown of business, the redistribution of tax dollars to those who can’t, err, won’t, err opt not to work because of newfound allegiance to socialist-style government giveaways? They’re both deceived and deceivers. Liars, in other words.
Let the internment and concentration and reconditioning and retraining and indoctrination camps go forth. Let the enemies of the state and the unredeemable face their consequences. That’s the world envisioned by Guterres and his many, merry communist minions.
Guterres may say “lying” should be seen as “wrong.” His supporters and his sheep may soundly agree; after all, lying is indeed wrong. But that’s not the same as saying lying is illegal, and therefore, punishable by law. And allowing someone like Guterres to determine truth — whether truth of medical options or truth of political candidates or truth of nations’ histories and governments and sources of exceptionalism — is akin to letting the wolf roam free in the chicken coop.
Might as well just give him the Constitution along with a pair of cutting shears to shred it away. It’d be a lot more honest and a lot less time-wasting than pretending the U.N. agenda is the least bit pro-America.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Socialists Don’t Sleep: Christians Must Rise Or America Will Fall,” is available by clicking HERE.
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