Thou Shalt Not Lie (midweek message)

Thou shalt not Lie

 Fr. Tony’s Midweek Message

October 24, 2018

“There are six things that the Lord hates,
    seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
    and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
    feet that hurry to run to evil,
a lying witness who testifies falsely,
    and one who sows discord in a family.” 

(Proverbs 6:16-19)

As we go into the two weeks before election day, and we see so many political ads and speeches in this era of “alternative facts” and “fake news” so called, it is helpful to remember bottom line morality on expressions of thought, whether spoken or written:  “Thou shalt not lie.”  

Telling a falsehood—saying something is so when it isn’t, or saying that something is not so when it is—is one step shy of outright lying:  telling a falsehood deliberately when you know it to be false.  Being disingenuous is one step shy of speaking falsehood:  suggesting that things are one way when we know they aren’t yet not actually coming out and speaking the falsehood.  We generally recognize the “tells” or indications of disingenuity: fuzzy use of language, turning aside the topic or seizing on peripheral words or ideas, not answering the question posed, or careful parsing of the meaning of the words and language (“it all depends on what ‘is’ means”). 

Misspeaking, or simply getting things wrong, is one thing.  We all tended to laugh and forgive Ronald Reagan when, in reply to being called to account for an inadvertent error, he said, “I stand 100% behind what I meant to say.”  It is important to remember the words of Daniel Patrick Moynihan: “You are entitled to you own opinions, but you are not entitled to you own facts.”    

“Strategic messaging” and doctoring the “spin” of stories in the news cycle are nice ways of talking about the task of getting one’s message clearly across to the public.  I worked as a U.S. government “spin doctor” for 25 years, and saw in my State Department career a tendency of political leaders and the public to judge spokespeople mainly on their effectiveness at achieving desired opinions in the public, in “getting the message out.”  Some in the field stopped seeing the great temptation to disingenuity at heart of much of their work.  They argued for avoiding outright lies on the basis of practicality rather than morality:  rather than saying you must not lie because it is wrong, they said you must not lie because all lies sooner or later become known and in the long run this will damage your credibility.   This process, I think, made the way for some of us to fall prey to the propagandist’s original sin: the Big Lie. Hitler and Goebels said openly that a lie, repeated often enough and loudly enough, becomes true, especially when you accuse those who take exception to the lie of lying themselves.   But liars often are taken in by their own web of falsehood, first because they can tell their lies more credibly if they act as if they believe them, and finally because they end up unable to distinguish truth from falsehood.  They believe their own propaganda, and don’t recognize truth when they see it. 

Jesus often took issue with his opponents for their hypocrisy: falsehood that manipulates others.  Especially when supported by appeals to the authority of scripture, religion, or God, he found it wrong, just plain wrong. 

As we listen to the political arguments and debates, and as we actually fill out our ballots, we should ask ourselves who is telling the truth, who is simply in error, and who is lying.  I don’t think Jesus wants us to vote for liars, or those who enable and encourage them. 

Grace and peace. 

Fr. Tony+