I told a lie for a higher good, at least that was the best excuse I could come up with.
Plato’s magnificent myth was justification for the elite to lead the subordinate classes into a society that lived in harmony. The noble lie he proposed in the Republic was meant to maintain social peace in the land.
And governments ever since have latched on to the concept with great relish. It’s not relegated to the ancients. The Consumer Price Index, unemployment rate and government budgets are often manipulated figures, contorted to help the masses feel better about their lot.
And politics seems to be a perpetual game of deception. What really happened in Benghazi? What kinds of deals happen in the Senate cloakroom? Are oil companies causing our planet to heat up, or does the big money in carbon-taxes manipulate the date?
What’s the truth?
The problem is that eventually, we know when we are being lied to. We react in anger, and in frustration throw our support to another path, which often filled with a whole new set of noble lies.
In a world of lies, it’s easy to take the cynics path, to trust no one.
And there, on the edge of the rubble of deceit, stands a Savior. “I am the truth, the way, and the life,” he beckons. “Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no.’”
A noble truth.
A magnificent path.
A different way to live.
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