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Thank you, Mark. And thank you for dropping by to listen.
I have a question for you.
Who do you trust?
A lawyer? A car salesman? A police officer? A journalist?
Is there a profession that you feel exemplifies honesty and ethics?
The Gallup Polll
In 1976, the Gallup organization began taking a poll of peoples’ views about the honesty and ethics of those who worked in various professions. That’s an interesting poll. Gallup has been doing that on an annual basis since 1990.
That poll reveals a great deal about human nature and the condition of our society.
Let’s look at some of the results.
Very High or High
Only six professions had more than half the population consider them honest and ethical. Think about that. Out of 23 professions, only six were rated as honest and ethical by more than half the population.
That should cause us some concern.
Here are the top six.
Nurses 78%
Veterinarians 65%
Engineers 60%
Dentists 59%
Medical Doctors 56%
Pharmacists 55%
Except for engineers, the most highly rated professions were medical related.
The Bottom of the List
Perhaps more revealing than the top of the list is which professions were at the bottom of Gallups list.
Journalists
We depend on journalists — on TV, on streaming services, podcasts, written formats — to inform us about what is happening in the world.
It’s a rather important profession.
And yet, only 19% of people think they are honest and ethical.
Which brings up the question … why do we listen to them?
Lawyers
And then there are lawyers.
One of my favorite statements dealing with lawyers asks a question.
How can you tell if a lawyer is lying?
And then comes the answer:
It’s easy.
His lips are moving.
Is that really where we’re at in our society?
Like it or not, it seems to correspond to the Gallup Poll that indicates only 16% of people thought lawyers were honest and ethical.
But lawyers aren’t the bottom of the barrel.
Car Salesmen
Let’s dig down toward the bottom of Gallup’s list of honest and ethical people.
One profession that has hovered near the bottom of that list for years is car salesmen.
Only 8% of people thought car salesmen were honest and ethical.
Members of Congress
But car salesmen’s aren’t the bottom of the barrel.
There is a profession that is even lower than car salesmen — members of Congress.
Only 6% of the American people believe members of Congress are honest and ethical.
Stop and think about that. If you could gather together 100 people, only 6 would consider members of Congress to be honest and ethical.
These are the people who create the laws of our land. These are the people who decide how much of our money they should take from us to pay for their projects. These are the people who have sent us into trillions of dollars of debt as a nation, almost guaranteeing the collapse of our economy and destroying our children’s and grandchildren’s’ futures.
How is it that 94% of people don’t believe members of Congress are honest and ethical, yet in the last election in 2022, 94% of members of Congress were re-elected?
Perhaps the problem isn’t the members of Congress.
Perhaps the problem is us.
We are the ones who give them power.
Who do you trust?
I’d like to end this episode by returning to our initial question.
Who do you trust?
Instead of putting your trust in lawyers, car salesmen, or politicians, I would recommend that you put your trust in God.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.”
Psalm 26:7 (ESV)
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:7-8 (ESV)
Trust God
“Ethics Ratings of Nearly All Professions Down in U.S.” by Megan Brenan and Jeffrey M. Jones.
“How to escape the surveillance state: Pick the right search engine” by Michael Matheson Miller.
“The All Stuff AI Podcast” by Rick Bently.
Before I go, I’d like to share a blessing with you from the Old Testament.
“May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26 (The Living Bible)
Until next time … be the reason someone smiles today
Who do you trust?