"No one pleads honestly" (Isaiah 59:4)

Litigating my due process case has certainly shown me how true this is with district special ed lawyers at any rate. Indeed they do not plead honestly.

That's doubtless news to no one, and that this is not OK with God is rather obvious too. What's not obvious is how the school board members that profess to be Christians can authorize such behavior, relying on such crookedness - as Isaiah goes on to say, "They trust in confusion and speak lies" - and so far as I can tell, their consciences don't even bother them.

But here's another thing I've noticed that's of much greater interest: if you insist on pleading in truth, that has to force you to really understand. That discipline has compelled me to learn the law as I otherwise would not have, and a lot else besides. We're made stupid if we don't plead in truth. We walk in the way of understanding, we really learn stuff, if we discipline ourselves to do so.

The lawyer that pleads dishonestly and trusts in confusion is certainly rewarded many times by getting over, which is why he finds it wise to do so. I'm not dumb enough not to realize that, and neither are you. But the price is that it does eat little holes in your brain that you don't notice. Wisdom is better than silver and gold, or even $219/hour.