How Can Corruption Be Curbed?

The obvious first step in curbing corruption is to recognize that corruption is destructive and wrong. Since it benefits the unscrupulous to the detriment of others.  Some progress has undoubtedly been made in that direction.  James Foley, U.S. deputy secretary of state, said: "We all recognize  that the cost of bribery is high. Bribes undermine good governance, harm economic efficiency and development, distort trade and penalize citizens around the world."  Many would agree with him.  On December 17, 1997, 34  major countries signed a "bribery convention"   that is designed to "have a major impact on the global fight against corruption."  The convention "makes it a crime to offer, promise or give a bribe to obtain or retain international business deals."

Bribes for winning business contracts in other countries, however, are just the tip of the corruption iceberg.  Eliminating corruption across the board requires a second, much more difficult step:  a change of heart, or, rather, a change of many hearts.  People everywhere must learn to hate bribery and corruption.  Only then will graft disappear.  To this end, Newsweek magazine said that some feel that governments should "encourage a general sense of civic virtue." Transparency International, an anticorruption lobbying group, likewise recommends that its supporters "inject a 'seed of integrity" into the workplace.

The fight against corruption is a moral one that cannot be won by legislation alone or by "the sword" of legal penalties.  (Romans 13:4, 5)  Seeds of virtue and integrity  have to be sown in people's hearts.  This can best be achieved by use of what the apostle Paul described as "the sword of the spirit,"  God's Word, the Bible. -Ephesians 6:17.

Next time:  The Bible Condemns Corruption

The Watchtower, 2000