Let me try to tie all these anti-truth temptations together and apply them to us here at Bethel. I do not believe that we have succumbed to them or are in any real danger of doing so tomorrow or the day after. We want so badly to make Bethel a nice, comfortable, inviting place for all people that truth can begin to take a back seat to building self-esteem and making people feel good about themselves. This can infect the way we grade, what we teach, how we teach, and every other aspect of the educational process and community life. Among students it can infect the way you interact with peers and teachers, how you evaluate courses, and every other aspect of college life.
Truth is the only reliable check on power.
Without truth, power is all that is left. Truth never, never corrupts. Power always tends to corrupt and unchecked by truth inevitably corrupts. Of course there should be. But without truth, they are lost causes.