The Truth Lives! – Part 2
TimeWatch Editorial
March 27, 2017
We happen to live in an environment of un-truth. The genius of deception is an incredibly practiced art among the entire spectrum today. So practiced it has become, that the legal aspect of guilt has been reduced to a science. Kim B. Serota, Timothy R. Levine, and Franklin J. Boster of the Department of Communication, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, published an article entitled: “The Prevalence of Lying in America: Three Studies of Self-Reported Lies.” Listen to how they open their research:
In order to study the prevalence of lying, it is necessary to consider what constitutes a lie. Simply and broadly put, lying occurs when a communicator seeks knowingly and intentionally to mislead others. Thus, it is not sufficient that something is false for it to be a lie; it is the intent that distinguishes the lie. As S. Bok (1999) observes in his book “Lying: Moral choice in public and private life “on page 6: “the moral question of whether you are lying or not is not settled by establishing the truth or falsity of what you say. In order to settle this question, we must know whether you intend your statement to mislead.” Kim B. Serota, Timothy R. Levine, and Franklin J. Boster, “The Prevalence of Lying in America: Three Studies of Self-Reported Lies.” Department of Communication, Michigan State University
The question must then be where does the lying start? Surely not with the first statements made. Rather deception starts within. The first victim of the lie must be the liar. Whether the lie is told to deceive, to disparage, to encourage or simply to avoid embarrassment, it immediately creates a victim, the liar. From that moment on, the deception becomes a part of its creator. Since most lies are told so that the teller might stand a little higher, this false mountain, built on non-reality will ultimately crumble beneath the inevitable truth that one day will arise. Listen to this.
“Most people think a lie occurs any time you intentionally try to mislead someone. Some lies are big while others are small; some are completely false statements and others are truths with a few essential details made up or left out. Some lies are obvious, and some are very subtle. Some lies are told for a good reason. Some lies are selfish; other lies protect others.” Kim B. Serota, Timothy R. Levine, and Franklin J. Boster, “The Prevalence of Lying in America: Three Studies of Self-Reported Lies.” Department of Communication, Michigan State University
What we have not considered, is the fact that truth exists beneath every untruth told. The identifier of all deception is the truth that is being obscured beneath it. There can be therefore no lie that stands by itself; rather the need to dissemble is born of the need to hide that which is true. What is therefore established beyond any doubt is the edifice of truth that stands erect. What is even more revealing is the fact that every time a lie is told, truth is dragged kicking and screaming into the picture. The liar is therefore unconscious of the presentation of facts, simply by the introduction of un-truth.
That original lie, “Ye shall not surely die” introduced an argument that ultimately would have been proved or disproved. So it is with every lie told. For truth has no opposite, a lie is merely a counterfeit, and therefore cannot stand its ground. We must therefore build upon the solid rock of truth, without to hollow pointlessness of the counterfeit.
It is not enough, however for us to study and understand the philosophy of truth, even when we commit to aligning our lives with it. We must make a further commitment, to teach our children to commit to the truth. Jessica Smock, in an article posted March 17, 2017 on the CafeMom website entitled “How to Teach Your Kids the Importance of Truth in the Age of Fake News.” This is what she says:
“Don't be a liar yourself. Don't lie around your kids, because even little fibs -- like asking your kids to tell a relative on the phone that you're not home -- can undermine the message that honesty is best. Also, when you talk about political issues, make sure that you don't speak in political exaggerations, such as referring to a politician that you don't like as a "criminal." Teach your kids about the importance of a free press and the heroic work of journalists. The role of the press as the public's independent watchdog on government is so important to the foundation of our democracy that it is included in the First Amendment to our Constitution. Even little kids can be taught that one of the things that make our country special is that we have newspapers that try to tell us when our leaders are doing a bad job. The media, -- no matter how imperfect -- is how we get information to make informed decisions about our democracy and about issues that affect our families and our children. Our role as parents is to make sure that our kids understand the importance of journalism and how to get and share credible news and not to lie themselves. It's not an exaggeration to say that the future of our democracy depends on this.” Jessica Smock,“How to Teach Your Kids the Importance of Truth in the Age of Fake News.” CafeMom website, March 17, 2017
We must not fail in our responsibility.
Cameron A. Bowen
