Truth-telling In An Age Of Deception

As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I knew they were wrong. Something inside of me wanted to tell the truth, but like a split-second decision that changes your destiny, the river flowed out of the wrong channel. Trying to catch the words, they were gone, smoke spreading on a cold morning.

Now out in the open, I had to deal with the after-affect. So, I justified the words, first to myself, then to God. Neither of us bought the argument, but it sounded reasonable.So rationalization was the next step. After all, I didn’t want the otherpersonto be hurt by the truth. Out of sensitivity, the untruth was far more palatable than what really had happened.

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.

Truth-telling in an age of deception