We live in what must surely be the most calculatedly untruthful society and civilization in world history - where dishonesty is expected and demanded of many people in their work - on a daily, hourly, basis.
So, given that it is so expedient to do so - why not lie, since everybody else does?
In a neatly composed post; blogger "Rev Matt" puts forward a coherent psychological argument against lying...
Which is that a life built on lies is like that of an undercover spy: the liar always needing to be vigilant, anxious; ever vulnerable to exposure.
This may psychologically be true of most individual persons who have constructed their lives based on dishonesty*, but it does not apply to the prevalent form of untruthfulness here-and-now - which is to sustain and defend the social lies of our totalitarian civilization.
This is actually less stress-inducing, than it is to think - and maybe - speak truth**!
The harm is thus primarily spiritual, rather than psychological. It is the harm from sustaining systematic dishonesty and calculated misleading, and from defending-it-as-good; and doing so for our innermost selves: in conscience.
Such is to invite evil into one's heart - with inevitable adverse spiritual consequences; consequences that will not be repented for so long as the lie is self-excused.
That is the real reason why not to lie.
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* There are - however - some individuals who positively enjoy living-a-lie. Some spies seem to be of this sort. Such people experience a sense of their own superiority at deceiving people. And, if they are caught in the lie, they likewise enjoy either worming their way out of the situation - by whatever means is effective; or perhaps brazenly admitting they have fooled so many people for such a long time, and laughing at the gullibility of others.
** The same applies to science and academia more widely: it is much less stressful, and more immediately gratifying, to go-along-with whatever current untruths are prevalent among the leadership class; than it is to pursue truth and to speak truth.
Oh, man. I don't even know how to comment on this. I could write essays about it. There's nothing more frustrating than the feeling that you're being lied to all day, every day, year after year, on the most important issues. I don't even include as lies the use of statements that are intended to raise morale; for instance, answering "How are you doing?" with "I'm doing great, thanks", when you're really not; or making upbeat art and entertainment to inspire hope. Or putting the best possible spin on someone's life at a memorial service. I'm fine with those.
ReplyDeleteI mean lies about public policy that are the very opposite of the truth. Such as: that we live in a patriarchal society, when we actually live in a femnist society; that mass immigration is a benefit, and is no different to the mostly small-scale immigration that has always existed; that "gender" is fluid and socially constructed; that there is nothing threatening about eastward NATO expansion; that abortion is healthcare, or "reproductive rights"; that the traditional model of family is not the ideal; that "hate speech" legislation and "fact-checking" is anything other than censorship; that there's anything new or distinctively right-wing about "fake news"; and on and on and on, just constant lies that we are surrounded by every single day, and expected to affirm. I'm not saying anything profound here, it's just a cry of frustration.
Happy Christmas!
@M - Yes to that.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to make the point that on the one hand untruthfulness is wrong - but it isn't wrong because it makes people unhappy.
What makes most people unhappy (or happy) is mostly a matter of immediate social influences - and these have changed to encourage and enforce many types of lying, and to punish (and make miserable) those who are truthful on these mandatory-dishonesty topics.
Untruthfulness is wrong for much deeper reasons than how we feel here-and-now - *but* the existence and validity of these reasons is denied by our civilization.
Consequently, over the past few decades (since the last moral residues of childhood-inculated habitual Christianity have faded away) dishonesty has expanded without any apparent limit...
Until now when essentially everything of any significance in our "Western" public discourse is fundamentally untruthful - even when it is not an explicit lie, it has the calculated intent to deceive and manipulate.