For what reasons might someone be suspicious of you and withhold their trust? How do you win over those who are suspicious of you? (Serendipity Bible 10th Anniversary Edition, pp. 595-6).
Situation
Ethics: [Joseph] Fletcher [who wrote in the 1960s] believed
that there are no absolute laws other than the law of Agapē love and
all the other laws were laid down in order to achieve the greatest
amount of this love. This means that all the other laws are only
guidelines to how to achieve this love, and thus they may be broken
if the other course of action would result in more love (Wikipedia).
I
begin a discussion of today's questions regarding trust with a
reference to “Situational Ethics” because the withholding or
giving of trust most essentially involves the concept of situational
appropriateness. Situational trust simply means that we seldom
extend trust absolutely regardless of the situation—rather, we ask
a “coping” question—can I trust the person in question to cope
well in this
situation (and not some other, or in some absolute sense).
That is, our trust in another is implicitly qualified by the
situation. I may trust my doctor absolutely as a physician, but
extend him no trust whatever in some area outside of his expertise.
Likewise, a parent may have great trust in their teenage son or
daughter in some areas, but extend them little trust to drive
responsibly under conditions of peer pressure. The son or daughter
may in turn trust their parents in many situations, but never to be
cool in front of their teenage friends. The examples could go on and
on—all demonstrating that trust is extended in terms of situational
ability.
Thus,
in answer to the question “for what reasons might someone be
suspicious of you and withhold their trust” we must look at the
perceived ability to cope given a specific situation. To increase
trust, one must either increase their ability in the given situation,
or else change the situation to one in which they hold greater
ability. Perceived competence in a given area is necessary to win
over the trust of others. In this sense, trust is always extended or
withheld as situational trust.
