In recent months, the word credibility has differed from its original meaning, or at least it has for me. Five years ago, if a news source ever deemed someone to be a credible witness or bystander, most of the world would believe the "credibility" of the person. However, recently the idea of being credible has drastically been altered. To be a credible source, you must come off as someone able to be believed and remain convincing enough to persuade someone to take what you have said as the whole-hearted truth. The idea of credibility has nothing to do with the truth, but the power someone holds to convince others that there side is the ultimate truth. So how has this misinterpretation acted as an obstacle in our country's present way of life?
Very recently, Brett Kavanaugh was accused of sexually assaulting multiple women from his past, most of whom were deemed "credible."Immediately, this country was divided by the publicity of this story. One half of the country believed Dr. Christine Ford and the other women who were accusing the judge and the other half stuck by the judge's side and believed the words of these women were misleading or utter lies. Analyzing this moment of history, I came to the conclusion that those two halves were mostly composed of the two political parties in the United States of America, the Republicans vs. the Democrats.
The idea of credibility was immediately referenced when referring to the alleged assaults of the women by the new Supreme Court Justice. One side of the public believed they were credible, and the other did not. But was credibility the correct word choice to describe the words of alleged accounts of sexual assault. Going back to the definition, credibility is the act of being able to portray yourself as convincing and persuading enough regarding your story. People labeled "credible" should not be automatically labeled as truth-tellers, but as people able to convince a group of people that their side of a story is correct. The key word in that definition is convinced.
Referring back to the questioning of the judge, credibility was used on both sides of the arguments. The women were deemed credible, which led half of the country to believe these women automatically. President Trump deemed Brett Kavanaugh as someone credible as well, leading the other half of the country to believe in his credibility, as well. In terms of actuality, one side of the country was wrong. When I say one side of the story was wrong, I am not necessarily referring to the outcome of the investigation as being the full truth, but that both sides believed their side of the argument was credible.
In cases like this, I always like to take a step back and analyze things apart from my political beliefs. Logically, one person had to be fabricating their truth or lying, because in the end in any investigation there are two options: innocent & guilty. It baffles me that the word credibility has gained so much popularity in recent years because deeming someone credible is not labeled someone as being truthful, it is deeming someone persuasive. The country, the senators, the FBI, and anyone with an opinion on the case should remove all factual evidence regarding credibility about the case and focus on the truth. Credibility is the reason the country was so divided regarding this scenario and many others ones similar to it.
Politics always come into play with these types of things, even though they should NOT be a factor in anything concerning the act of sexual assault. Things like the "Me Too" movement has been associated with liberal Democrats and immigration issues within our country has been associated with the conservative Republicans. These two things should not be something someone looks at in regards to their political affiliation, but something that people can relate to on a humanistic level. Going back to the recent light shining on past & present accounts of sexual assault, people should never make a decision on who they believe by siding with their party or automatically believing the credible source. Because chances are, both sides will have people labeling them credible sources.
Credibility has become a word that the country seems to think can solve the issues of the present day, but it simply is not. Political affiliation is nice to understand and be proud of, but it also not something you can look towards to make educated opinions about recent discoveries regarding sexual assault in the United States. Everyone needs to start looking at cases like these and others with a humanistic perspective. Affiliation and a sense of belonging have utterly destroyed our human ability to look to our own individualistic ethics, morals, and values when making educated decisions. We tend to constantly side with a side because of a mere "credible source" label or a loyalty to our political party.
These type of issues in our countries are extremely personal and gut-wrenching to hear and process. If true, sexual assault damages an individual throughout their entire life and they struggle with things like mental health, PTSD, and issues pertaining to trust. Because these issues are so personal, we have to stop deciding our take on situations because of a blurb of information on Twitter or how our political party feels about it. We have to look to our own personal values and determine how we individually feel about the evidence presented and how it affects our moral compass, not the shallow publicity of these horribly gruesome allegations. In any case, always remember that your opinion matters and everyone has the right to their opinion, no matter what that may be. Free Speech is our right as Americans and we do have the opportunity of expressing ourselves publicly or privately, but please never forget that we are all the same and are all equals. All humans have feelings, emotions and cognitive abilities, specific to their own sense of self. No matter what our opinion is about anything in the news or anything concerning these cases of moral integrity and personal humiliation and despair, always be respectful to your fellow human beings.
Strive to be an authentically good human throughout your daily life & maybe one day we can put an end to these types of issues in our country, with love, authenticity, and respect.
