False Accusations.

Blaming others for your misdeeds can be argued is a common practice, especially when the stakes are high. One of the historic and notable characters who is claimed employed this tactic was of course Nero who so story has it, fiddled while he saw seventy per cent of Rome burnt to the ground. The fiddle at that time had not been invented, but you get the idea. Who got the blame for this act of vandalism? Well, a small group of Christians that were mercilessly later persecuted to death.

The end justifies the means, as Machiavelli put it, and many ambitious long term tyrants have with gusto employed misrepresenting the truth to suit their own needs. One such occasion involved the young boy destined to become the King of England. He was surrounded by several so called protectors. On seeing the young Prince accompanied by his guarding bodyguards, the opportunist drew his sword and rushing forward shouted traitor! He despatched his enemy with a single lunge. It was from that time onwards, he assumed the roll of the protector of England.

In England during the time of the Civil War it was not uncommon to falsely accuse rivals or enemies of possessing abnormal and maligned powers. The subsequent investigations into these speculative allegations were all too often flawed, as there was a financial reward for finding accursed people guilty of the claims made against them.

Sometimes what unites people is finding a common enemy and if that entails distorting the truth, that is what can happen. It is a mistake that has been made repetitiously throughout history, and be the psychological instigations of fear, greed, rumours or a combination of them, the results have far too often been sad and shameful.

Historically there is a never ending supply of false slurs and wrongly tried situations. In today’s society a highly respected or relied upon botanist or herbalist, if living in earlier historical times could have met with a far different reception.

History has proven that when it comes to accusations based on false statements, it is not only using truth as a defence, that can set you free. People can be happy to repeat the false allegation if it supports what they they wish to believe or in certain instances if it perpetuates a monopoly of self interest. Legal systems matter, the condition of society is important and while politics will always have a part to play in how these arenas are managed, a proportionately winning determination of integrity is crucial as to how many scenarios conclude.

It may be better to direct attention to how the accuser is benefiting from the accusation rather than simply denying its validity. In conflict, it can be claimed that always the first casualty is the truth, but it is up to standards, education and to some extent decency, that allows a sense of justice to prosper and prevail.