Stop Lying to Ourselves

By Rev. Dr. Ronald H. Moore

www.virtueonline.org

January 2, 2026

There is a moment in every collapsing order when the problem is no longer policy, leadership, or even ideology. The problem becomes something far more basic and far more dangerous: self-deception. We have reached that moment.

The crisis of our age is not merely that nations act unjustly, but that they insist on describing those actions as virtue. We no longer argue about whether something is right or wrong; we argue about how elaborately it can be renamed. Power cloaks itself in moral language, and citizens are expected to applaud the costume.

This is not sustainable. And it is not new.

The Lie Beneath All Others

Most civilizations do not fall because they are wicked. They fall because they become incapable of telling the truth about themselves.

The lie always begins modestly:

We mean well.Our intentions are noble.This is regrettable, but necessary.

Before long, the lie becomes structural:

Our violence is different.Our power is benevolent.Our enemies deserve what happens to them.

At that point, self-examination becomes impossible. Any challenge to the narrative is treated not as disagreement, but as betrayal. The lie must be protected at all costs, because without it, the entire moral framework collapses.

This is how republics quietly become empires without ever admitting the transformation.

Empire and the Refusal to Admit It

Let us be honest: the modern world is not governed by ideals, but by power. The United States, Russia, China, and regional actors alike pursue interests, spheres of influence, and strategic dominance. This is not shocking. It is how nations have always behaved.

What is shocking is the insistence that this behavior be described as altruism.

Empires once spoke plainly. Rome did not claim to conquer for the spiritual benefit of Gaul. Britain rarely pretended that India was ruled for India’s self-actualization. Their sins were great, but at least they did not demand applause for them.

We, however, insist on being both conqueror and savior. We must be powerful and morally immaculate. Every action must be framed as humanitarian, defensive, or inevitable. Responsibility is diluted into abstractions until no one can be held accountable for anything.

This is not moral progress. It is moral evasion.

The Cost of Dishonest Language

When nations lie about their motives, three corrosive things happen.

First, citizens are infantilized. They are not invited into serious moral reasoning; they are handed slogans. Complex realities are reduced to children’s stories of heroes and villains.

Second, suffering is instrumentalized. Real human pain becomes a prop in a narrative already decided. Protesters, refugees, and civilians are invoked when convenient and forgotten when inconvenient.

Third, accountability disappears. Because who dares question an action framed as “humanitarian”? To oppose it is to risk being labeled cruel, immoral, or disloyal—regardless of the actual consequences.

Thus, moral language becomes a shield against scrutiny rather than a guide for conscience.

A Simple Thought Experiment

Imagine if foreign powers openly threatened to intervene in the internal unrest of the United States—claiming they were prepared to “rescue” American citizens during periods of domestic violence or state force.

The reaction would be immediate and universal: outrage, ridicule, and a fierce invocation of sovereignty. And rightly so.

The principle is clear when applied to ourselves. It becomes murky only when we insist on exempting our own actions from the standard we apply to others.

That is the hallmark of self-deception.

“Admit It Before Man and God”

There is a far more honest—and far more dangerous—path.

If a nation truly believes its actions are justified, then it should say so plainly:

We believe this is necessary for our security.We believe this is in our strategic interest.We believe this cost is worth paying.

Then let the people decide whether they agree. Let history judge. Let God judge.

What must stop is the pretense that power becomes righteous simply by renaming itself.

Honesty does not sanctify an action. But dishonesty condemns it outright.

Why Honesty Is So Feared

Because honesty does not guarantee victory.

It does not guarantee success.It does not guarantee safety.It does not even guarantee survival.

It guarantees only this: that judgment will be real.

Truth exposes costs. Truth demands ownership. Truth forces leaders and citizens alike to stand beneath the weight of their decisions rather than hiding behind moral theater.

Empires can survive resistance. What they cannot survive is truth spoken without illusion.

The Personal and the Civil Are Not Separate

This crisis is not merely geopolitical. It is spiritual.

Nations lie because individuals have learned to lie to themselves. Institutions deceive because people have been trained to accept deception as normal. A society that cannot say, “We were wrong,” at a personal level will never say it at a national one.

Every genuine renewal—personal or civilizational—begins the same way:

We have sinned.We have deceived ourselves.We have called this good when it was not.

Until that confession is possible, reform is an illusion.

The Only Hope Left

Honesty will not save empires.

But it may save souls.

It may restore moral agency to citizens who have been numbed by slogans. It may reopen the possibility of genuine debate, genuine repentance, genuine restraint.

Most importantly, it may remind us that truth does not belong to the powerful. It judges them.

Subterfuge is the language of the enemy. It always has been.Honesty—costly, uncomfortable, unsparing honesty—is the only hope left to us.

Not because it will make us win.

But because without it, we are already lost.

The Rev. Dr. Ronald Moore is the Vicar of St. Luke's Anglican Church in Corinth Mississippi. you can find his books at amazon.com/author/ronaldhmoore