Hey!, Wanna See Some Sin?

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgressions and . . . their sins." Isa. 58:1.

22. Lies

22. 13. Society teaches us to lie.

"We seem to judge lying, not with regard to lying itself, but rather its purpose and content. . . .
Throughout Europe, most don't understand the U.S. concern over President Clinton's lying to the American people. The purpose of the lie and the content of the deceit apparently excuse it. . . .
Perhaps the key can be found in what harm, if any, is done. The polls indicate most people don't feel harmed by the president's lying, because they don't feel harmed by his infidelity or covert dalliances. They do feel harmed, though, by Saddam Hussein's lying because he's covertly making weapons of mass destruction -- targeted at us. Tolerance of lying thus lies on a continuum.

As the European Union edges toward adopting the euro currency and the world continues to shrink, it is likely more common cultural ethics will follow. As the techno-communication revolution leads us into a new sociology, can a more shared standard of principled behavior be far behind? Yet defining acceptable and unacceptable lying will still challenge us."

"When are little white lies acceptable?", Marshall Colt
Denver Business Journal
From the September 25, 1998 print edition
Copyright 1998 American City Business Journals Inc.

Business

The whole world operates around "business". Every "business" is based on margin, the difference between what we get and what we give. Because business is based on "getting", it is synonymous with "competition". Businesses compete under the motto "all's fair in love and war", unless it is illegal, and even then, as long as we don't get caught, or sued. If our company does it, it is "strategy". If our competition does it, we call it "unfair" and appeal to government agencies to investigate.
We are surrounded by advertising everywhere we look, and in everything we hear. We know that advertising lies, but we still reward the most effective liars with our business. Otherwise, advertisers would always tell the truth.

In business, lying pays cash.

"We tell our children that lying is bad when, in fact, lies are part of the daily fabric of our work lives. We justify the inconsistency by saying that some lies are more acceptable than others."

"Lies are more prevalent in the business world than at home because the work environment is viewed more impersonally. In the workplace, where high performance is everything, lies can put a better light on a situation or a result, justify an action, be reassuring or protect us. Because it is not uncommon to see lies rewarded in business, it can be difficult to convince ourselves and others not to lie."

Peta G. Penson
http://sacramento.bcentral.com/sacramento/stories/1997/04/07/smallb5.html

Sports

We justify our preoccupation with "competitive" sports by saying that it prepares our children for success in the world of "business". In competitive sports our children learn that "being No. 1" is the goal, that "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing", and that in comparison to First Place, everyone else is a "loser". For example, consider the press interviews with the Olympic Silver and Bronze medalists, "How do you feel about losing the gold to (the winner)?", and we say of them, "They failed to win the gold."
We teach our children that it is not just about doing one's best, but about interfering with the success of others by intimidation (all sports), by purposely injuring opponents seriously enough to put them out of the game (football, hockey), by "talking trash", by causing opponents to "foul out" (basketball), and by intimidating the officials (most, if not all sports).
In the Little League World Series of 2000, someone lied about the age of the pitcher of the winning team. After the series was over, the lie was discovered and the team was disqualified.
Our example to our children is that when it is done by our team, it is "strategy", but if it is done by the opposing team, we call it "cheating" and we appeal to officials to overturn the results.

We use sports to teach our children to lie, so that they can compete equally with other liars in the business world.

Politics

The word politician is also synonymous with liar.

"Every politician -- Democrat, Republican, or Independent -- stares into the TV camera and lies. This isn't casual lying. They study how to do this. They hire people to help them do this. This is a profession, and lying is now a multidisciplinary science involving a complex understanding of the law, polls, psychology, acting, semantics and different communications media."
(source unavailable)

We expect politicians to lie. If a candidate told the truth all the time, he or she would never be elected. We want to believe their lies of "no new taxes", "improved education", and "peace", even while we know that they owe their souls to the special interest groups that paid for their election.


Religions

Each of us is convinced that everybody's else's religion is based partially on lies. If everyone is correct, then all religions are based partially on lies. That brings us to a self-contradictory argument similar to what the apostle Paul wrote, that "One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, "The Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.", This witness is true." (Tit.1:12-13).
This appears to be an unsolvable conundrum until we consider that all lies have some basis in fact or they are mixed with elements of truth. When someone lies all the time about everything, we institutionalize them, because they cannot function in our society. The rest of us only lie part of the time and therefore we are considered to be mentally "healthy" or "normal".

If everyone is correct, then all religions are based partly on lies. Many have rejected organized religions because of the lies and hypocrisy.

Perhaps some continue to support a lying religion in the same way they elect politicians, choosing what appears to be the lessor of the available evils.

 

Lying is openly accepted:
Instructions on how to be a successful liar are available on the internet.

"So you wanna lie persuasively."
"Our techniques are not meant to be used when you are on the witness stand nor should they be used to steal from or hurt others. Rather, our methods should be applied defensively: . . . That said: read on, and learn to lie like the dirty dog you are. . . .
And there you have it! You now know all that is necessary to be a great liar. Go out there and become the best darn lawyer you can."
http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/lie/lie.html

Lying is approved by the highest courts:

"A state law prohibiting malicious lies in political ads was thrown out by the state Supreme Court yesterday on the grounds it chills the free speech guaranteed under the First Amendment…… " The minority opinion chastised the court with: "Today, the Washington State Supreme Court becomes the first court in the history of the Republic to declare First Amendment protection for calculated lies, ....." (Seattle Post Intelligencer State law against lies in political ads is thrown out June 12, 1998)

Political Integrity: CALCULATED LIES 2
By Bob Hegamin AN OPINION October 27, 2000
http://exordia.net/pi/Calculated_lies_2.htm

 

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