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lying...

Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 10:00 am
by Soloist
how is it that we have people who openly distort the truth...

Do this, your child will be cured from autism, Oh never do that... Only this...
Preying on the desperate who often know nothing other then that life is really hard and want to try anything to make it better.

Oh you can cure your cancer with apricot seeds

Stop pertussis in its tracts with flax seed (or mega dose vit-C)

Never take the antibiotics! it makes the symptoms worse

Don't worry you can't catch pertussis if you've had a shot in the last 10 years

We have plenty of staff for your child and your times works fine (oh wait, we are actually hiring someone from Ca for you)

Don't worry, if our staff doesn't mesh with you and your family we can get someone else (really? and fire the poor lady from Ca?)

Just take these meds, your sleep will improve

This one will fix your problems (even though the side effects are the same)

I'm sorry ignore my ranting... I'm just bitter at so many lies that make it very difficult to find truth or hope that things will get better.

Re: lying...

Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 10:12 am
by ken_sylvania
The thing is, so many of the people offering the assurances you mention actually believe it themselves. They have no intent to deceive...

Re: lying...

Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 10:46 am
by Bootstrap
ken_sylvania wrote:The thing is, so many of the people offering the assurances you mention actually believe it themselves. They have no intent to deceive...
But they are not actively pursuing the truth either. Maybe they haven't been taught how. Maybe they have grown used to a culture where claims are not carefully evaluated to see if they are true.

Re: lying...

Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 11:34 am
by Josh
Bootstrap wrote:
ken_sylvania wrote:The thing is, so many of the people offering the assurances you mention actually believe it themselves. They have no intent to deceive...
But they are not actively pursuing the truth either. Maybe they haven't been taught how. Maybe they have grown used to a culture where claims are not carefully evaluated to see if they are true.
Indeed. In order to cultivate a love for truth, I must dedicate myself not just to the very minimum to convince myself "I'm not lying", but I must ask myself "Am I at all deceiving my neighbour, even unknowingly?" I think Jesus offers a lot of grace for unintentional sin, but even unintentionally hurting someone still hurts them.

A bigger discussion is here deciding who the authority for truth even is. This is really hard to do with things like medicine or nutrition. But some of what I see in Soloist's cry is things that are very, very simple: it's common in business to speak outright lies. It's something I do my best to avoid, but it's very, very commonplace to speak half-truths and mis-truths and lies by omission.

I think as believers, we can let our light shine by not doing this.

Re: lying...

Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 12:35 pm
by KingdomBuilder
Bootstrap wrote:But they are not actively pursuing the truth either. Maybe they haven't been taught how. Maybe they have grown used to a culture where claims are not carefully evaluated to see if they are true.
Spot on. Personal revelations and opinions trump reason and fact every time. Welcome to the West.

Soloist, I'm sorry to hear of your situation.

Re: lying...

Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 1:38 pm
by MaxPC
Soloist, I understand completely.

My 5 cents: The examples you gave remind me of the "snake oil salesmen" and con artists of many years ago. They do it for money.

Then there are those who do it for pride, prestige, status and power. They want to be the ultimate authority and seek to obtain that status however they can. They offer empty promises in a flood of words.

Finally there are those who are 'believers' because they're desperate for relief.

Nothing new under the sun or Son. Men are sinners and that's why we need Jesus.



Soloist wrote:how is it that we have people who openly distort the truth...

Do this, your child will be cured from autism, Oh never do that... Only this...
Preying on the desperate who often know nothing other then that life is really hard and want to try anything to make it better.

Oh you can cure your cancer with apricot seeds

Stop pertussis in its tracts with flax seed (or mega dose vit-C)

Never take the antibiotics! it makes the symptoms worse

Don't worry you can't catch pertussis if you've had a shot in the last 10 years

We have plenty of staff for your child and your times works fine (oh wait, we are actually hiring someone from Ca for you)

Don't worry, if our staff doesn't mesh with you and your family we can get someone else (really? and fire the poor lady from Ca?)

Just take these meds, your sleep will improve

This one will fix your problems (even though the side effects are the same)

I'm sorry ignore my ranting... I'm just bitter at so many lies that make it very difficult to find truth or hope that things will get better.

Re: lying...

Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 12:12 am
by temporal1
some/many lies are told because people are paid to tell them.
or, they won't be paid without telling them.
loss of a paycheck is a big motivator. there are many ways lies are justified.

some are pathological liars.

but, in my life, i have wondered if lying might be the most universal sin?
is there anyone who has never lied? then, it becomes a matter of degrees.

o.yeah. there is what is taught in law schools. that all truth, moral+legal, is relative, or, "what you can get away with," in courts of law. some get away with literal murder. there is a price for moral+legal relativism.

from your OP, it sounds as if you are struggling with something specific?
(no intent to be intrusive.)