Sadly however, there is Truth and there is Truth, and herein lies great difficulty. The 'Whistle Blower' is someone who releases into the public domain information that the institution wanted kept under wraps. For a fuller discussion see Wikipedia.
Well-Being Australia chairman Mark Tronson, a Baptist minister and the former Australian cricket team chaplain of 17 years says that institutions whether they be government, industry and commerce, sport, church or social clubs have the greatest proclivity to exercise an evil, designed to frustrate, delay, deny and prevent truth from 'outing'.
"Truth in War is such a precious commodity that Winston Churchill claimed it required a multitude of lies to protect it, and it seems to me that this principal has a reality in institutional life," Mark Tronson said.
He claims there is ample evidence of this from the experience of any Australian in a multitude of circumstances and moreover the Apostle Paul spoke of it, in relation to the principalities and powers of this world.
"There are inevitably two truths, there is anecdotal truth and there is institutional truth and the two are more than likely poles apart," Dr Tronson said.
He says there is 'anecdotal truth' regarding work practices which is notoriously difficult to prove, and there is 'institutional truth' with professional documentation and protected by law.
He says we can read any major story in a newspaper and hear the anecdotal story and get the rebuttal from the institution based on evidences such as university studies, research papers, government statute and the like.
"Anecdotal truth is often based on years of experience, such as a miner's intuition that a certain sound reflects a dangerous situation, however this sort of truth regularly fails the institutional pedigree test," Mark Tronson explained.
He says that institutions have a way of supporting other institutions over people, such as regulators and dodgy financial investment houses, or even where a Church head office supports a parish institution, even after most of the congregation walk.
"Institutional evil has a terrible way of inflicting raw emotional injury, institutional evil leaves little opportunity of redress, and there seems to be only one voice to which an institution responds, that is bad publicity," Mark Tronson stated.
He claims the champions of Australian democracy are not Federal and State politicians, both of whom are too far involved in institutional life, rather the local Shire councillors who deal with people's every day institutional evil.
"Your local Shire Councillor is your next door neighbour, whose kids go to the same school as your children, they have to put up with the same institutional chaos as you, and they can have a very public voice," he stated.
He claims that the media and the trade unions both play very important roles in 'anecdotal truth' over against 'institutional truth'. Mark Tronson says that the court system is one place where anecdotal truth gets some form of hearing with victim impact statements, and that anecdotal truth couched as evidence can be heard.
The institutional 'Whistle Blower' whose conscience bears a public responsibility without the safeguards of political office, he says, is brave and courageous but often naive to the power of the institution, with its large purse and influence.
"A primary focus of an institution is to protect the institution at all costs, and anyone who seriously challenges an institution will inevitably find the going fraught with gruelling personal cost," Mark Tronson said.
He claims that Jesus Christ was a classic example of someone who challenged institutions who said to those defending the institution, "If I have told you earthly things, and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?" (John 3 verse 12).
Mark Tronson claims that without an eternal perspective of justice, what follows is an inevitable philosophical, community and relationship chasm resulting in a loss of hope.
"According to the good book 'Hope' is one of the big three and in my view, institutional evil decimates hope, and a 'lack of hope' is one of those pivotal links to the nation's high figures of human despair and suicide.
If we can believe anything that any politician says, one of them is on right on the mark - Federal politician and Independent, Bob Katter, who revealed that four formers a week commit suicide. This is something you can believe. Those responsible for institutional decisions have a lot to answer for.