One day a man named Truth and a man named Lie stood by a river just outside of town. They were twin brothers.

Lie challenged Truth to a race, claiming he could swim across the river faster than Truth. Lie laid out the rules to the challenge stating that they both must remove all their clothes and at the count of 3, dive into the freezing cold water and swim to the other side and back.

Lie counted to 3, but when Truth jumped in, Lie did not. As Truth swam across the river, Lie put on Truth’s clothes and walked back into town dressed as Truth. He proudly paraded around town pretending to be Truth.

Truth made it back to shore, but his clothes were gone, and he was left naked with only Lie’s clothes to wear. Refusing to dress himself as Lie, Truth walked back to town naked.

People stared and glared as naked Truth walked through town. He tried to explain what happened and that he was in fact Truth, but because he was naked and uncomfortable to look at, people mocked and shunned him; refusing to believe he was really Truth.

The people in town chose to believe Lie because he was dressed appropriately and easier to look at.

From that day until this, people have come to believe a well-dressed lie rather than believe a naked truth*.

Often the people I speak have been deceived by a well-dressed lie which leads to abuse and a lot of hurt and pain.

A simple way to find out whether you are up against a well-dressed lie or a naked truth is to ask these three questions:
1. What are the downsides of going down this path?
2. Who benefits from doing this – you, me or the government and at what cost?
3. What is behind what is being said – is the source trustworthy?
Remember actions speak louder than words!

*Author Unknown and adapted from Truth Coming Out of Her Well a 1896 painting by the French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme.