Secrets, Lies, and the Sacred Trust
by Kaman Lykins
|
07.23.2025 at 06:00am
What are the differences between secrets and lies? There is a sacred trust between the protected and those responsible for protection. Secrets are an essential part of this trust, as are well-placed and necessary lies. However, when secrets and lies are irresponsibly leveraged, the sacred trust is eroded, and the protected may demand and facilitate a change.
The longevity of any society depends upon the relationship between those protected and those who protect, or the protectorate. The protected rely on the judgment, capability, and integrity of the protectorate and place a sacred trust. The protected maintains the right to define, among other items, the moral, legal, and political parameters in which the protectorate may function. The protectorate guarantees three major functions within this sacred trust. First, there is the guarantee of the protectorate’s ability to protect the protected. Second, it promises its monopoly on absolute violence will never be used to threaten or destroy the protected. Third, the right of the protected to define its will and what courses of action the protectorate may pursue to fulfill obligations aligned with this will.
Moral Ambiguity
This sacred trust is in continuous jeopardy due to the moral ambiguity in which the protectorate must operate. There is a thin grey line between two opposing forces of survival and destruction, and this presents a dangerously unique setting where moral clarity degrades, potential results weigh heavily upon the standard ethical paradigms, and principle is often suspended for immediate survivability and postponed moral outcomes. This ethical arena is constantly navigated by the protectorate, while the moral arena is mainly a luxury perspective of the protected. While ethics and morals overlap in degrees and diverge at increased echelons, the protected should not aggressively scrutinize each minute detail of all decisions or results of the protectorate’s actions, for it is not only unrealistic and dishonest, but also counterproductive. Idealism can easily become the enemy of appropriate and the final judgment of the protected to the protectorate must be tempered with prudent and pragmatic empathy.
The protected must understand that the protectorate, of necessity, operates in the world of secrets and lies to maintain an advantage over common enemies. Capabilities may be understated or overstated, and plans may be leaked or kept a secret to provide the element of surprise or to ensure the success of a strategic objective. This is generally understood, and the protected find solace in their often naïve or willing blindness to these particularly difficult realities. The protected may not be fully aware of the details of the protectorate’s actions. The moral and ethical complications of the protectorate’s actions necessitate trust over detailed explanations for both efficiency and practical exercise of action. Therefore, the protected and protectorate enter a sacred social contract based upon the trust of execution and results.
https://smallwarsjournal.com/2025/07/23/secrets-lies-and-the-sacred-trust/
