I have written before about the moment I lost faith in politicians. I was 14 years old, watching Pres. Nixon resign in shame. And while I know that politicians, especially those in the midst of unspeakably challenging circumstances, cannot always tell us the truth, it seems that we, as a nation, have become so accustomed to lying that the truth and facts have become the enemy. Pres. Clinton lied to congress. Presidents Reagan and Biden had dementia, and the people around them covered it up, lying to us that there was nothing to see here. Pres. Trump can’t seem to speak without lying. Again – there are times when lying is necessary. We, as a culture, have gone beyond that point.
I think it is erroneous to say that religious/moral people can never lie, either. It is a well-accepted practice that lying is permissible in some circumstances, like saving someone’s life. Bearing false witness, however, is a planned lie created to damage someone’s life. And what child hasn’t lied to save them from punishment? We even have words like “little white lie” or “fib” to show that, while lying is wrong, there are some circumstances when it seems less wrong to lie than other times. We all lie to each other and ourselves, and this has been part of the human condition since the Garden of Eden.
Now, however, truth is chastised and shouted down, and conspiracy theories thrive. Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels said, “Tell a lie often (or long) enough, and it becomes truth.” Joseph Heller, in his 1984 book God Knows, wrote, “The truth is whatever people will believe is the truth. Don’t you know history?” The band Jefferson Airplane got it right; “When the truth is found to be lies, and all the joy within you dies.” Lies destroy love. At the core of our national dysfunction may lay this very real truth: lying corrupts the soul. Lying destroys community. Lying creates distrust. Jesus said that the Truth will set us free. It may also be that living in a culture of lies imprisons us, destroying our humanity.
Prayer – Holy God, let our words, thoughts, ideas, and intentions be based on truth, not lies. Amen.
Today’s art is “Wall of Souls” by Linda Mota.