Lying is Ugly But Growing
By Richard Greene
• A ... study by the U.S. Army War College
reported that Army officers routinely lie. Dishonesty and deception” are
widespread, the study showed.
• As opening day for the 2015 Major League baseball season draws near,
one of the biggest clouds ever hovers over New York Yankees slugger Alex
Rodriguez. After defiantly denying in public that he had used banned
performance-enhancing substances, baseball’s highest paid player reportedly
told federal drug agents and prosecutors behind closed doors that he had indeed
used steroids. Rodriguez received immunity from prosecution in exchange for
confessing. His admission rang familiar to when Mark McGwire came clean five
years ago. McGwire had previously misled Congress about his steroid use, but in
the end, he acknowledged he had used the drugs, even as he eclipsed baseball’s
single season home run record in 1998 while playing with the St. Louis
Cardinals.
• Without question, one of the biggest perpetrators of falsehood has
been former professional cycling icon Lance Armstrong. Viewed as larger than
life, he inspired the nation by overcoming cancer that developed after the
second of his eventual seven Tour de France championships. But his career was
constantly engulfed in controversy, as doping accusations swirled around him.
Like Rodriguez and McGwire, Armstrong fiercely defended his innocence, only to
crash and burn when he finally divulged that he had been telling “one big lie
that I repeated a lot of times.” Steroids stripped him of all seven Tour titles,
and Armstrong was banned from cycling.
• The financial world was rocked in December 2008 when Bernard Madoff
’s Ponzi scheme—the biggest in history—collapsed, victimizing thousands
worldwide. One author later portrayed the imprisoned stockbroker as the “wizard
of lies.”...
While it’s easy to identify the lies of public figures—and collectively
point fingers—could the lying tendencies of our cultural icons and political
leaders really just be a reflection of us? The book The Day America Told the
Truth would certainly indicate that. According to the book: 91 percent of
Americans admitted they lie regularly; 86 percent admitted lying to their
parents; 75 percent admitted lying to their friends; and 69 percent of
Americans admitted they lie to their spouse.
A 2002 University of Massachusetts study found that 60 percent of
people lied at least once during a 10-minute conversation and told an average
of two to three lies. And, according to a 2004 Reader’s Digest poll, 93 percent
of Americans reported being dishonest at work or school, and 96 percent
reported lying to close family or friends.
What can one conclude? Christian ethicists, commentators and counselors
told Decision that America is suffering from an epidemic of lying. Janet
Parshall, who has been broadcasting from the nation’s capital for more than 20
years, believes America has morally acquiesced and allowed the tsunami of
postmodernism to overpower its society and worldview.
“One of the marks of the postmodern era is that we no longer believe in
a transcendent, moral code of absolutes of what’s right and what’s wrong,” said
Parshall, whose latest book is Buyer Beware; Finding Truth in the Marketplace
of Ideas. “When we fall out of love with the truth, we don’t care about it any
more.”
The result, Parshall said, is a plunge toward moral relativism that’s
characterized by the practice of situation ethics. “Any means whatsoever is
justifiable as long as I get to my desired end,” she explained. “So, if my goal
is X, and I have to kind of walk around the truth and twist it and bend it a
little, that’s OK as long as it gets me to the goal that I want. We’re doing
what’s right in our own eyes, unfortunately.” ...
And lying leaves victims in its destructive wake. “Many Americans are
living under the illusion that lying causes no victims,” said Russell D. Moore,
president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
“When, in fact, lying has victims, starting with the conscience and the
integrity of the liar himself or herself. We must realize what lying does to
one’s own soul.”
Deep inside the darkened soul, myriad rationalizations for lying are
found. The need to look better than we are, and thereby to impress and feel
accepted by others. The need to get a promotion or better job, therefore
manipulating the truth in order to succeed. The need for self-protection to
escape punishment and guilt. The list is endless. ...
“Lying originated with Satan, who Jesus
called ‘the father of lies’ in John 8:44,” Hunt said.
Parshall added: “Ever since we walked out of the Garden of Eden,
culture at large has been permeated by an acceptance of lying. What makes the
21st century different is that with the advent of a 24/7 news cycle and being so
globally interconnected, lies are more often repeated and more easily exposed
than they’ve ever been before.”
So, what’s the hope then? The cross and the Gospel, the four leaders
agreed.
“We must be honest about our sin,” Johnson said. “We must not cover our
sin but own up to it, confess it and repent from it. We must believe in the
death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That’s the truth, and there’s
forgiveness and freedom in that.” ...
So when Parshall sits before the microphone, before she hits the “on”
button, she always prays Psalms 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my
Redeemer." Read full Decision post HERE
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For more see my book Lying the Case Against Deception HERE on Amazon
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| Read the book that proves lying is moral wrong |
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