Truth or dare is a game I was prohibited from playing while my mother was alive. She only told me it was a nasty game played by freaks and perverts. After playing the game once, my freshmen year of high school, I found out that she was right. Truth or dare is a game in which a person selects either truth or dare. If a person selects truth then he or she has to answer a question honestly or face certain consequences if it is found out that the individual is lying. If the person selects a dare then he or she usually has to perform a task that is normally embarrassing or sexual. This game is normally played by those in school ranging from elementary to college even. Some play the game to just manipulate other people into a situation they can control while others play the game to find out the truth. Unfortunately in real life the truth is often times a lot more elusive.
There are many kinds of lies in the world while there is only one truth. The truth is something that never changes while lies can range from being a small fib, to a simple white lie, to just leaving out details from the truth. The truth about lies though is that they are all the same. Most people like to fool themselves into believing that lies have a hierarchy scale and that a simple white lie is better than a fool out right big lie. Sadly this is not the case. Other people deceive themselves and like to believe that if they just leave out the unpleasant part of the truth they are more moral than someone who tells a lie, now the person is lying not only to themselves but other people too.
From a young age I have understood that lying is wrong. I have never and will never act like telling a lie is a morally right thing to do. Yet, in 2009 I understand lying completely. First, a lie is the perfect sin. Christians often fool themselves into believing a liar is more moral than a murder. While the law of man says that is the case the law of God sees both as being wrong and neither being greater or lesser than the other. Lies are not illegal for the most part, of course there are a few exceptions like being under oath in court, or on a resume or while talking to the police. For the most part though people are not arrested for lying. The biggest reason why lying is the most tempting sin is because if done right no one ever has to know that a person has lied.
While I think lying is wrong I understand them because people don’t know limits. I remember being younger and a teacher would tell a fellow student or myself instead of lying just tell someone “it’s none of their business”. While this is certainly the truth people don’t operate like that. By telling someone that whatever they are asking about is none of their business this is practically giving them permission to continue to pry only this time they pry behind your back or even worse they decide to make up their own story to soothe their minds. People lie to prevent other people from prying and making up stories. Although a lie is a lie I understand that. I know I’m guilty of that myself.
People also lie because they can’t handle the consequences of their actions. These are the worst kinds of lies simply because if a person can’t handle the fallout of their actions then those actions shouldn’t have been done in the first place. This usually ranges from people who cheat on their loves to people who lie to their professors about what really happened to their homework. While some make plans to lie in advance some lie on the spot because their actions have consequences that were much unexpected and possibly too scary to face.
Finally there are those who lie to protect others. This is something I do engage in often and feel no guilt for it. Sometimes people will come to me and ask me a question about someone else knowing I know what’s going on. Once again a simple “none of your business” doesn’t work. I would rather tell a protective and believable lie to end curiosity and protect the innocent person. After all I do believe if it’s not your secret to tell then you should not tell that secret.
Lies are told everyday by both good and bad people. Good people use lies to protect loved ones while bad people use lies to protect themselves. There is a thin line between a lie and the truth, the trouble is balancing the two. In extreme cases outside forces are even brought in to determine if a person is lying like a lie detector or someone who is great at watching body language. Yes a lie is in fact the perfect sin and no one knows this better than the person who can look another person dead in the eyes and come up with a believable lie on the spot.
There are many kinds of lies in the world while there is only one truth. The truth is something that never changes while lies can range from being a small fib, to a simple white lie, to just leaving out details from the truth. The truth about lies though is that they are all the same. Most people like to fool themselves into believing that lies have a hierarchy scale and that a simple white lie is better than a fool out right big lie. Sadly this is not the case. Other people deceive themselves and like to believe that if they just leave out the unpleasant part of the truth they are more moral than someone who tells a lie, now the person is lying not only to themselves but other people too.
From a young age I have understood that lying is wrong. I have never and will never act like telling a lie is a morally right thing to do. Yet, in 2009 I understand lying completely. First, a lie is the perfect sin. Christians often fool themselves into believing a liar is more moral than a murder. While the law of man says that is the case the law of God sees both as being wrong and neither being greater or lesser than the other. Lies are not illegal for the most part, of course there are a few exceptions like being under oath in court, or on a resume or while talking to the police. For the most part though people are not arrested for lying. The biggest reason why lying is the most tempting sin is because if done right no one ever has to know that a person has lied.
While I think lying is wrong I understand them because people don’t know limits. I remember being younger and a teacher would tell a fellow student or myself instead of lying just tell someone “it’s none of their business”. While this is certainly the truth people don’t operate like that. By telling someone that whatever they are asking about is none of their business this is practically giving them permission to continue to pry only this time they pry behind your back or even worse they decide to make up their own story to soothe their minds. People lie to prevent other people from prying and making up stories. Although a lie is a lie I understand that. I know I’m guilty of that myself.
People also lie because they can’t handle the consequences of their actions. These are the worst kinds of lies simply because if a person can’t handle the fallout of their actions then those actions shouldn’t have been done in the first place. This usually ranges from people who cheat on their loves to people who lie to their professors about what really happened to their homework. While some make plans to lie in advance some lie on the spot because their actions have consequences that were much unexpected and possibly too scary to face.
Finally there are those who lie to protect others. This is something I do engage in often and feel no guilt for it. Sometimes people will come to me and ask me a question about someone else knowing I know what’s going on. Once again a simple “none of your business” doesn’t work. I would rather tell a protective and believable lie to end curiosity and protect the innocent person. After all I do believe if it’s not your secret to tell then you should not tell that secret.
Lies are told everyday by both good and bad people. Good people use lies to protect loved ones while bad people use lies to protect themselves. There is a thin line between a lie and the truth, the trouble is balancing the two. In extreme cases outside forces are even brought in to determine if a person is lying like a lie detector or someone who is great at watching body language. Yes a lie is in fact the perfect sin and no one knows this better than the person who can look another person dead in the eyes and come up with a believable lie on the spot.
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