The Reverse Ferret and the Vicar of Bray

Changing your mind is perfectly normal—and often essential. After all, it’s what education is all about – updating your thoughts with new information, experiences, and perspectives. Growth and change are what life and learning are all about.

But not all changes are created equal. Enter the reverse ferret: a dramatic, brazen, shameless backtrack, less about improvement and more about saving face. Popularized in British media (with a nod to ferrets, trouser legs, and tabloid antics), it describes a sudden flip in stance, driven by expediency rather than sincerity.

This kind of pivot often comes with no acknowledgment of the original position, just a clean break and a conveniently new opinion. While thoughtful change signals growth, a reverse ferret is more about dodging accountability and going wherever the wind blows.

The Vicar of Bray

The reverse ferret has a long tradition and an older cousin: the Vicar of Bray. This term, borrowed from a satirical 18th-century song – a romp through history – has long been shorthand for political expediency and hypocrisy. We sang it in school back in the day. I can still hum the tune and sing the key lines even as I have forgotten many of the references. Here’s version with the words.

“And this be law, that I’ll maintain until my dying day, sir
That whatsoever king may reign, Still I’ll be the Vicar of Bray, sir.”  

The vicar in question—allegedly from the village of Bray, Berkshire—was notorious for changing his religious and political allegiances to keep his post through the turbulent shifts of English history. The song recounts his flexible principles as he navigates the monarchy’s religious flip-flops from Charles II to George. He bent his opinions with the winds of political and religious upheaval. His knack for shifting loyalties to maintain power, privilege, and position became a symbol of opportunism and insincerity.

The story of the Vicar of Bray—and the reverse ferret—reminds us of the difference between thoughtful change and hypocritical self-preservation. One is a mark of growth; the other, cynical shape-shifting.

Changing Times 

Yesterday, we learned that McDonalds is rolling back its DEI programs. The Guardian reports

And today we learn that Meta – aka Facebook and Instagram –  is changing its policies on free speech and censorship.

Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook will roll back some of its censorship policies to become a “free speech” platform. The Meta CEO said he’s replacing the social media platform’s fact-checkers with a community notes system. https://t.co/58JSs3nxDE pic.twitter.com/orhjz50Y47

— Newsweek (@Newsweek) January 7, 2025

Does this mean growth and learning for McDonalds and Mark Zuckerberg?  Or is it just seeing the writing on the political wall and going with the shifting tide? Will “misgendering” and ‘gender’ wrong-think no longer lead to excommunication from social media?

What and who will be next prominent individual, business, institution, company, or organization to shape-shift? Or is it growth and learning?  You be the judge. 

And when, and why, is changing an opinion so hard to do, even in the face of mounting evidence?

Stay tuned.