'Truth Among Lies'

You know what? No intro today. No small talk.

I must vent. Let's get right into it.

Lying.

Deep.

What is lying? Why do we do it? How do we justify it? Why do we justify it?

Our good friends Merriam & Webster have a definition for the word "lie"; they say if one makes an untrue statement with the intent to deceive, one lies. Let's come back to this in a minute.

To begin with, why do we lie?

Definitely a question worth thinking about. Why do individuals feel the need to lie in the first place? Mayhaps they have information they do not wish to share with others. Or they wish to ensure their reputation remains untarnished in the eyes of their friends / family / colleagues. Or they are trying to protect someone they care about by hiding something and not hurting their feelings. Or they want to get out of a situation and not be held accountable for it. Or they want to be perceived in a certain light, different from the way they usually are.

The reasons for lying may be abundant. Some may be good, some may be malicious. Some may be out of spite, some out of boredom. Some may be as a joke, while some may be harsh and severe. However, do any of these reasons truly justify lying?

I have met several people in my life who say that a lie is a lie, regardless of the situation. Nothing can justify a lie, all that matters is that the lie has been told.

I know for a fact that I would be a hypocrite if I said I never lie, or have never lied in my life. I have lied. Several times. Ergo, I actually disagree with the aforementioned statement (go figure, eh?).

Why? Because of the intent behind lying. This was the point I wanted to come back to. Does the intent with which one fib make a difference to what they say?

In my personal and extremely humble opinion, I think an individual's intent makes a world of difference. For example, what about a friend who chooses to conceal a rude comment made by someone about another friend? Are they not simply trying to protect their friend's feelings? When it comes to personal safety, giving your personal information out at bars or clubs, giving a fake name or number - it is still a lie, however, is it so wrong to want to protect yourself from the crazies out there? Wanting to surprise a family member or coworker or friend while organizing a party for them, isn't that also a lie?

I would consider all of these lies with good intentions; ones that do not harm an individual. These are things that may be revealed later in the future, or may just be swept under the rug in hopes that they would never come up again.

So then maybe there is something else to think about. Is a lie considered a bad thing only if it affects a lot of people? Is a lie socially acceptable if it does not affect anyone except the teller?

Then there is also the subject of lying by omission, where individuals may simply choose not to get involved in a situation, but in doing so, keep information to themselves. Is this stance equally as bad as lying? Sigh, at this point, I feel the need to revisit this again...

And finally, while I try to speculate the reason people justify lies, I am going to make a pretty big assumption. I think that intrinsically, most of us are uncomfortable with the notion of lying. Except for the individuals who think that lying is a socially acceptable norm, those who think lying is not always acceptable will work harder to justify their "lies".

I'll also go further and say this: in the spirit of honesty, I think individuals will use any and every excuse to justify a lie, regardless of it's credibility. And many a times, it will just be the intent behind their lie that they attempt to justify, not the actual lie itself. They have an inexplicable urge to simply clear their conscience, and I think it is this discomfiting feeling and the fear of being held accountable that leads to justification.

Where does my venting come into play? With malicious intent. When people go to great lengths to lie, with the intention of harming others, while pretending to truly care about you, I get very upset. I spent today surrounded by people with deleterious intent.

I would have been less upset with them if they had only ever been spiteful and dishonest with me. However, the pretense of having my best interest at heart while their actions demonstrate everything but, really irks me. In my books, I consider this the worst form of a lie. The thought of underlying agendas and ulterior motives influencing actions of people worries me about the future of this world we live in... </3

So there you have it! I feel like this post needs to be read really fast and in a really aggressive tone to truly understand my frustration about my sitchi-yation. For now, that's all I've got. I must also give apt credit for my title, for it is inspired by one of Jeffrey Archer's novels (Honor Among Thieves).

That's all for now. Until next time someone comes along and ruins my day... *grumpy face*

Hasta la-buh bye!