Twisted Truths

As a follow up to the other day's post, Casting Stones (http://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/casting-stones.html) I want to tell you 3 truths about myself.

1.     I was fingerprinted by the police.

2.     When my son was a baby, a social worker had to visit our home several times.

3.     I was questioned by a judge in family court.

All of the above are absolutely true.  Assuming you don't know me personally, what do you think?  What opinions would you form based on the above?  Am I a criminal?  A bad mother?  A child abuser?

If you've read my blog for the past few years or you know me well, you've probably figured out what the three truths are about.  All of the above were necessary to adopt our son.

But take those truths with no context and you could come up with a completely different scenario.

I am not a journalist, nor do I claim to be. Truth matters, but so does its context.  Truth can be twisted and warped.  Truth can be "used" to create a villain or hero.  It's not just about the truth.  It's about the full story.  It's about the context and circumstances. I believe a good journalist, a responsible reporter, presents the truth in context.  Truth and facts need to be presented cleanly and clearly.  

Additionally follow up needs to be done.  The story doesn't just end midway.  For example, after reading the above truths (which I presented in chronological order), would you be satisfied just hearing that I went to court?  Would you want to know what the judge's "verdict" was?  Would you want to know what happened afterwards?  (The judge asked us if we'd like to take family photos with him and then we went home and celebrated for the rest of the day.)

How would YOU judge me based on those three truths?  How would I judge you?  Are we ready to cast our stones without knowing the full story? Should we really be judging at all based only on twisted truths?