All of my life I have been taught to tell the truth. I taught my boys that they might get into trouble for what they did, but they would be in worse trouble for lying. Truth may not always be the easiest path and the whole truth may not always seem to be the best course of action, but if we are to survive in the human family, we must be able to tell the truth as well as recognize it. We must be able to deal with the light of truth and banish the darkness of lies.
I know that most of you have at one time or other been offended when I have corrected a false email that you sent me. I have been guilty of sending out email that I did not check out, myself. Others have corrected me for perpetuating the lie in an email through apathy or unconcern and sending it on to be re-sent and re-sent and re-sent to the ends of the web.
The Internet is an easy place to get lost in, especially since it seems to be so full of light. I mean, really, aren’t we raised to believe in the written word and everything we see on television and hear on the radio? If they say it or write it, it must be true, right? Seriously, how many of you have to train yourselves not to believe things you read or hear?
The Holy Bible is totally, unequivocally, undeniably TRUE…. yet, even it has been translated so many different ways, if you look long enough, you can find a translation that fits what you are trying to do. It may not be correct but it’s available. We believe that each translation is okay, just different. (Not so.)
We have allowed ourselves to be manipulated into believing whatever we see or hear. We are so busy that we do not want to take the time to hold it to the light, just assuming that the presenter has already done so.
A case in point is an email that I just forwarded to a lot of people. It had to do with demographics about the previous election and had “true facts” that I really wanted to believe about how the Republicans should have won because of sheer numbers. Normally, I would have looked it up, but it just seemed to be true. It also contained a quote that I had heard used in a church setting, so I didn’t question it…until after I had sent it.
Being thrilled that I had found the quote again, I “googled” part of it to get more information about it and what I found convicted me of becoming slack in the search for the truth. One result sent me to www.snopes.com where I should have started to begin with and said that the demographics part of the email originated around 2000 after the first Bush election, was inaccurate, and then resurfaced after the next one, only to come back again after this one. A second one sent me to http://www.lorencollins.net/tytler.html to find out that through extensive research, the quote was inaccurate, was attributed to the wrong person, and was actually a combination of at least two different quotes, one of which was not even related to the subject at hand. (And how accurate are these sources?)
I had sent out something that was a lie. I could almost feel my nose growing!
Lying is not part of my nature and does not happen without cost. There are always consequences. Even so, it is just easier, sometimes, to fall back on our indoctrination from childhood…if it’s written or they’re saying in public, then it has to be true or else they could be sued for slander or libel. Right!…. We just came through an election that was won by media manipulation. How could I have let my guard down? How can any of us?
The bible says that Satan constantly looks for those that he can devour (1 Peter 5:7-9): we are to be aware of his schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11): he is the father of lies (start in Genesis): he knows the bible better than we do (read the conversation between him and Jesus when he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil in Matthew 4): he can appear as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14.)
Any idea how he can control us without our even knowing it?
We allow him in a bit at a time…. a little lie here; a little lie there. White enough not to cause a problem, but not quite the truth, either. It’s too little to worry about. Before long it seems to be the truth, so we file it away in our brains as the truth.
I remember as a child being told by the government through posters and school participation that we should seek out a “bomb shelter” in the event of a nuclear bomb. We even had “bomb raid” practice…. like tornado drills. As a matter of fact, they were the same thing. We got in the middle of the hall and covered out heads with our arms facing the wall. Out of school, we were to go to a designated basement.
We felt so safe. The government was so kind and thoughtful as to want to save our lives. We bought into the lie and I guess it worked because I really felt like covering my head with my arms was going to save me from a bomb blast and a deadly tornado. (Little lie to a young child…truth) My parents were just as convinced that the shelters would save us from annihilation by “the bomb.” The government knew then, that it was a lie, but they wanted to get re-elected and keeping the public feeling safe is a good way to do that.
We wanted to feel safe, so we went along with it. I mean, after all, we elect our government leaders and they have to do what we want them to… so… we are in control of the situation. They would not lie, would they? Little lie? We want to believe it because not to believe it means we have no control over it. For the next several years, we were believing “the truth” that the government wanted to keep us safe by sending us to “bomb shelters” even after we knew the destruction and death toll in Japan caused by the same bombs we were being sheltered from. Gradually, the signs disappeared and we didn’t hear anything about it anymore.
Here’s the kicker…you’re sitting there wondering at my naivety..but how did you feel when the twin towers went down? Didn’t that blow your sense of being kept safe by the government right out of the water? Little lie…truth. We believed we were safe. We had been indoctrinated to feel that way.
Why did you feel safe? We are surrounded by illegal aliens that do not want to be deported; by homosexuals that want to silence us; murderers, thieves, drug dealers, rapists and child molesters that get turned back onto the street because their rights were violated; computer child stalkers everywhere because their free speech rights might get infringed upon. The police and military that are trying to protect us are some of the lowest paid, under equipped, verbally abused people in the country. After 9/11 you can add Jihadists that want to annihilate us to the list of threatening people.
This is not an article meant to bash the government. It is to show you how subtly a lie can sneak in and deceive you causing you to file it away as truth. Motives do not matter. A lie is a lie. Delivery of the lie doesn’t matter. It is still a lie. Perception can turn it into truth, but it is still a lie.
This example is just showing you how the small, inconsequential lie of the government being able to keep us safe can be perceived as truth even in the face of the destruction of Hiroshima, horrors of successive wars, Watergate, impeachment of a president, assassinations and attempted assassinations of presidents and senators, the clock tower sniper, Columbine, the disappearances of Jimmy Hoffa, Madeline O’Hare, and thousands of children. And the beat goes on….
You can see how just one or two lies can take hold in your mind as truth when you hear yourself telling your neighbor, “Yeah, I think Homeland Security is doing it’s job to keep us safe. We haven’t been attacked on U. S. soil since 9/11.”
Well, we didn’t have one between Pearl Harbor and 9/11 either, but then we did. The truth is…they don’t know. If they did, we could still leave our doors unlocked and our children could play outside.
So reckon how many little lies…truths are in our minds because of Satan’s deception? Just a few years ago we did not have to watch nudity on television, even Rob and Laura slept in separate beds (Mary Tyler Moore Show.) We did not hear foul language and did not have to watch blood and guts splattering all over the screen to be able to see a good movie. Now, we sit down to watch a movie and never think twice about people in bed together or a little foul language because we have been conditioned to recognize it as normal. Little lies…truth.
Little lies…. truths?
§ I can gossip with my best friend because no one else will find out…God will understand that we have to talk to somebody!
§ It’s okay to eat that second dessert because only I will know.
§ 72 mph isn’t breaking the speed limit enough to count.
§ It isn’t judgment: it’s my opinion.
§ It is not my responsibility to appraise email before I send it on to others.
§ I don't have any gifts and even if I did, God couldn't use me in that situation.
What lies have you perceived as truth? Did God really say ......?
May God bless you some more!
