Mark Twain said, "Everybody lies, every day; every hour; awake; asleep; in his dreams; in his joy; in his mourning." In the TV series House, M.D., Dr. Greg House says “everybody lies” in almost every episode. He has also said that "It's a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what.”
Lying is bad because it can do harm. Saint Augustine taught that telling lies was always wrong, but accepted that it would be very difficult to completely refrain from lying. He believed that there were in fact occasions when lying would be the right thing to do.
What if you make up a false story with the intent to mislead or deceive? What if you say or do anything or nothing to give a false impression? What if you change the subject of discussion, or simply walk out, in order to avoid revealing the truth? What if you quibble or evade the truth of a matter at hand by raising irrelevant objections to withhold the truth? What if you fake bewilderment over an outcome to conceal the truth about its cause? What if you speak falsehood? What if you lie?
Mark Twain said, "Everybody lies, every day; every hour; awake; asleep; in his dreams; in his joy; in his mourning." In the TV series House, M.D., Dr. Greg House says “everybody lies” in almost every episode. He has also said that "It's a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what.”
Perhaps, humans lie as soon as they have the capacity to do so. I know I have lied on some occasions, but I preach against lying. I know that I am not telling a lie when I tell the children that lying is bad. How bad a lie is depends on what the lie is about and how adverse its consequence is. There are times when telling a lie has favorable outcome, apparently more favorable than revealing the truth, and this is why certain conflicts about lying ensue. Though all lies are intended to mislead or deceive, there are lies told without hurtful motives. The so-called white lies are lies with good intentions.
Lying is generally considered unacceptable, unethical. In his book The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini expressed that it is a sin to tell a lie because “when you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth”.
People think that lying is wrong for obvious reasons. People like a world where the truth prevails and where trust among human beings is preserved and nurtured. If all people tell lies whenever they want without moral restraint, nobody can be trusted and everybody will have to determine the truth about everything that concerns them. Life would become very difficult. If lying is acceptable, people will not hesitate to use lies to manipulate others to achieve their goals. It will be burdensome for the person being lied to make an informed decision about the matter of concern.
Lying is bad because it can do harm. Telling lies can harm the lied to, the liar, and other people involved in the lies or affected by the outcome of the lies.
Handicapped in making a free and informed choice about the matter at hand, the people lied to are deprived of some control over their life.
Caught in a web of lies, liars suffer the blame for, if they are exposed, or the guilt of adverse consequences of decisions made and actions taken based on their lies. Sometimes, a lie develops an overwhelming burden on the liar.
People involved in lies may suffer the injustice of false accusation and undeserved punishment. People affected by the outcome of lies may suffer afflictions caused by uninformed decisions.
Saint Augustine taught that telling lies was always wrong, but accepted that it would be very difficult to completely refrain from lying. He believed that “the true sin of lying is contained in the desire to deceive”, and that some lies could be pardoned, and that there were in fact occasions when lying would be the right thing to do. He listed eight classes of lies from the least to the most forgivable:
1. Lies told in teaching religion (least forgivable)
2. Lies which hurt someone and help nobody
3. Lies which hurt someone but benefit someone else
4. Lies told for the pleasure of deceiving someone
5. Lies told to please others in conversation
6. Lies which hurt nobody and benefit someone
7. Lies which hurt nobody and benefit someone by keeping open the possibility of their repentance
8. Lies which hurt nobody and protect a person from physical 'defilement' (most forgivable)
Saint Augustine's list reveals that as harmful consequences are eliminated and beneficial outcomes are manifested by a lie, it becomes most forgivable.
A moral person's decision on whether or not to lie depends on his personal assessment of the harmful and beneficial effects of a lie to himself, to the lied to and to others. Thus, every time a person lies, a significant moral decision has to be made. The decision to lie must always be based on the needs of the person or persons being lied to. Assessing someone else's needs is a very difficult and complicated task. It is a task that requires a lot of wisdom, and more importantly, a genuine love for that someone. It demands the assessment of that someone's capacity to use the truth for his or her personal growth and betterment. Oftentimes when we determine the capacity of a loved one to undergo a difficult and critical undertaking, our tendency is to underestimate rather than overestimate. We need to allow some correction or contemplation on this tendency. Extra care should be taken to ensure that our lies are not crafted to shield the persons that we lie to from painful but challenging experiences that will allow them to mature and become strong and responsible individuals.
What if you lie? If you lie you need to be strongly convinced that it is the right thing to do.
Lying is bad because it can do harm. Saint Augustine taught that telling lies was always wrong, but accepted that it would be very difficult to completely refrain from lying. He believed that there were in fact occasions when lying would be the right thing to do.
What if you make up a false story with the intent to mislead or deceive? What if you say or do anything or nothing to give a false impression? What if you change the subject of discussion, or simply walk out, in order to avoid revealing the truth? What if you quibble or evade the truth of a matter at hand by raising irrelevant objections to withhold the truth? What if you fake bewilderment over an outcome to conceal the truth about its cause? What if you speak falsehood? What if you lie?
Mark Twain said, "Everybody lies, every day; every hour; awake; asleep; in his dreams; in his joy; in his mourning." In the TV series House, M.D., Dr. Greg House says “everybody lies” in almost every episode. He has also said that "It's a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what.”
Perhaps, humans lie as soon as they have the capacity to do so. I know I have lied on some occasions, but I preach against lying. I know that I am not telling a lie when I tell the children that lying is bad. How bad a lie is depends on what the lie is about and how adverse its consequence is. There are times when telling a lie has favorable outcome, apparently more favorable than revealing the truth, and this is why certain conflicts about lying ensue. Though all lies are intended to mislead or deceive, there are lies told without hurtful motives. The so-called white lies are lies with good intentions.
Lying is generally considered unacceptable, unethical. In his book The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini expressed that it is a sin to tell a lie because “when you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth”.
People think that lying is wrong for obvious reasons. People like a world where the truth prevails and where trust among human beings is preserved and nurtured. If all people tell lies whenever they want without moral restraint, nobody can be trusted and everybody will have to determine the truth about everything that concerns them. Life would become very difficult. If lying is acceptable, people will not hesitate to use lies to manipulate others to achieve their goals. It will be burdensome for the person being lied to make an informed decision about the matter of concern.
Lying is bad because it can do harm. Telling lies can harm the lied to, the liar, and other people involved in the lies or affected by the outcome of the lies.
Handicapped in making a free and informed choice about the matter at hand, the people lied to are deprived of some control over their life.
Caught in a web of lies, liars suffer the blame for, if they are exposed, or the guilt of adverse consequences of decisions made and actions taken based on their lies. Sometimes, a lie develops an overwhelming burden on the liar.
People involved in lies may suffer the injustice of false accusation and undeserved punishment. People affected by the outcome of lies may suffer afflictions caused by uninformed decisions.
Saint Augustine taught that telling lies was always wrong, but accepted that it would be very difficult to completely refrain from lying. He believed that “the true sin of lying is contained in the desire to deceive”, and that some lies could be pardoned, and that there were in fact occasions when lying would be the right thing to do. He listed eight classes of lies from the least to the most forgivable:
1. Lies told in teaching religion (least forgivable)
2. Lies which hurt someone and help nobody
3. Lies which hurt someone but benefit someone else
4. Lies told for the pleasure of deceiving someone
5. Lies told to please others in conversation
6. Lies which hurt nobody and benefit someone
7. Lies which hurt nobody and benefit someone by keeping open the possibility of their repentance
8. Lies which hurt nobody and protect a person from physical 'defilement' (most forgivable)
Saint Augustine's list reveals that as harmful consequences are eliminated and beneficial outcomes are manifested by a lie, it becomes most forgivable.
A moral person's decision on whether or not to lie depends on his personal assessment of the harmful and beneficial effects of a lie to himself, to the lied to and to others. Thus, every time a person lies, a significant moral decision has to be made. The decision to lie must always be based on the needs of the person or persons being lied to. Assessing someone else's needs is a very difficult and complicated task. It is a task that requires a lot of wisdom, and more importantly, a genuine love for that someone. It demands the assessment of that someone's capacity to use the truth for his or her personal growth and betterment. Oftentimes when we determine the capacity of a loved one to undergo a difficult and critical undertaking, our tendency is to underestimate rather than overestimate. We need to allow some correction or contemplation on this tendency. Extra care should be taken to ensure that our lies are not crafted to shield the persons that we lie to from painful but challenging experiences that will allow them to mature and become strong and responsible individuals.
What if you lie? If you lie you need to be strongly convinced that it is the right thing to do.
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