FundamentalHumanRights.Org The Power of the Lie

Left Half of Image of the Original Painting Humanity's Torch

The POWER of the LIE

IMPORTANT

This site is about many Fundamental Human Rights, but REMEMBER:
Without understanding and focusing, primarily, on the MOST Fundamental of all human rights: the one, without which, we could have no other —THE RIGHT TO BE, we can never successfully protect and benefit from any other Fundamental Human Right at all.
So, please, make sure you go to THE RIGHT TO BE and THE RIGHT OF RIGHTS to understand and protect our MOST Fundamental Human Right TO BE.

Is there anything worse than making something that is unjust appear to be just?

THE ESSENTIALS

There is a fundamental human right to the truth, particularly regarding matters that can adversely affect one's safety and well-being.

There is a reason Scripture tells us that Satan is the father of the lie. The biggest hindrance to good is the lie. All evil has it as its core. Even the truth is paled by its power because human nature causes people to readily accept the lie, because it requires little effort, and people easily ignore or reject the truth because it requires a willingness to make the effort to determine if what is said is true. Any society that fails to support and promote the value of the truth and who fails to reveal the destructive evil of the lie, sentences succeeding generations to a world of deceit.

DISCUSSION

There is nothing worse than making injustice appear to be just, unless it is making justice to appear UNJUST.

The lie is nothing less than a plague, a disease that can travel rapidly with deadly affects. Often, the lie reaches out inflicting injustice upon many who never know how or why they have fallen victim to the plague of injustice.

The lie is used to intentionally conceal the truth. It is purposely meant to deceive. It is used as a means to escape the truth. Whether we lie to others or our self, the effect is the same: When we lie to avoid what is good and right, we are choosing evil over good.

Lies can, of course, take many forms. We can say we did something when we did not. We can say we did not do something when we did. We can say others did or did not do something when the opposite is true. It can also be a lie when we know a lie is being told yet fail to speak up to make the truth known and, instead, allow the lie to go uncorrected.

By far, however, those who speak against the truth, for example: by saying someone else is lying when, in fact, you know they are telling the truth, may be one of the greatest lies of all. The Bible, in Matthew, Mark and Luke, all speak of what is called the Unforgivable Sin, [How many of so called Christians, have ever heard there is such a thing as an unforgivable sin?] That unforgivable sin is blaspheme of the Holy Ghost The Holy Ghost is also called the Spirit of Truth. Could it be that speaking against the truth is so great that we could not be forgiven for doing so?

AN EXAMPLE OF FAILING TO SPEAK THE TRUTH AND ITS GRAVE CONSEQUENCES:

MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA

Mid-Nineteen-Seventies. Maricopa County Arizona. A Phoenix Police Officer arranged a meeting with several members of the "so-called" Juvenile Justice System. The topic to be discussed was the juvenile crime rate which was one of the highest in the nation and a specific proposal the officer had to drastically reduce juvenile crime.

In the meeting, the Officer spoke a little about the (then) current way the system handled juvenile offenders. Of course, the officials present were aware of current practices which, typically, brought even very serious offenders into the system for often only a matter of days before they were returned to their communities, eventually only receiving probation (or less) for their offences. Time and again this practice repeated itself. Real life examples of individuals who had committed very serious violent crimes were cited, and the fact that though such serious crimes were repeatedly committed from age eleven through eighteen, those individuals cited had only spent less than one full month in confinement, total, over the several years they were committing major crimes, as juveniles.

This was not new to anyone present, yet it was a reality all had come to accept. The Officer indicated that while these individuals-cited continued to commit crimes (and he only referred to the crimes the system actually knew they had committed) this was not the real tragedy and cause for the excessive crime rate in Maricopa County.

The reason the juvenile crime rate (and consequently the adult crime rate) was so high was because those juveniles who did come into the system showed many others in their communities that the Juvenile Justice System was a JOKE (their word), and that they, too, could do those crimes and only expect the slightest of penalties, if any.

Every person in that room KNEW this was true, and admitted it was so. The Officer's proposal was to publicly acknowledge these truths, and to work with prosecutors and judges in the system to ensure that when a juvenile-offender, proven to have committed a very serious crime (rape, robbery, child-molesting, arson and the like), came into the system, the officials of the Justice System needed to ensure that the CONVICTED offenders would spend a significant amount of time in confinement. The suggestion was a minimum of two years. First offenders would NOT be housed with repeat offenders and the juveniles would be required to continue school.

The Officer pointed out that this would not only keep the original offender from continuing his life of crime but would spare many victims. Beyond this, the many young people in his neighborhood, who would have followed him, would see that offender NOT as a hero who laughed at and beat the system, but as a loser for doing what society clearly says is a serious wrong. [In spite of what many may think, most criminals, especially juvenile offenders, are NOT stupid.] By making sure these offenders are not allowed to remain in their communities, and, continue to commit crimes, for a substantial period of time, those young criminals would not be able to adversely influence the young people in those neighborhoods.

The officials in that room said they believed they could get the cooperation of prosecutors and the courts and expressed the belief that, for the first time in their careers, they believed they could significantly reduce juvenile crime. They believed, if they implemented such a proposal, a realistic estimate was that at least a fifty percent reduction would be achieved.

After about forty-five minutes, one of the officials spoke up and said "Wait a minute, we better think about this." He went on to say, if they did this, those who were up for a promotion might not get those promotions because the number of juvenile offenders would be so drastically reduced. He said, "In fact, some of us might be laid off."

In an instant, the conversation went from one of positive expressions of pride at the thought of actually being able to accomplish what they had all taken an oath to strive to achieve, to expressions of concern and a willingness to allow the continuation of what they knew to be a dishonorable system —even though they now knew there were things that could and needed to be done to spare so many young people from a life of crime and spare their victims the pain and suffering that such dishonorable practices bring.

The officials tried to convince the Officer that he, too, might face lay-off if crime took a substantial drop. He asked them to consider what they were saying, reminded them of their purpose and oath, but with that, the officials ended the meeting rather abruptly with a promise to get back with him on the matter. But, it was clear to the Officer, it was unlikely they would ever take the action only moments earlier they had agreed would make such a positive change in their community.

They never did get back to him and would not make themselves available for further discussion. Any attempts to gain the cooperation from others proved futile.

I've cited this true-life-example here, under the topic THE POWER OF THE LIE to show, when we know the truth that can prevent so much pain and suffering and fail to speak that truth, preventing the good from being done, we commit one of the gravest sins possible, by simply remaining silent. Yes, there are many ways to lie.

Imagine how many young people in Maricopa County, Arizona (where Phoenix is located) took up a life of crime because those officials refused to do what they knew could be none to persuade those young people not to commit those crimes. How many of their victims would not have been victims if those officials would have just done their DUTY? Could such a grave sin be an unforgivable sin?

The failure of those officials, even those who didn't actually speak about possibly losing a job or a promotion, but who, too, remained silent CAUSED needless evil to be done. THIS IS THE POWER OF THE LIE. By the way, I am told Maricopa County still has one of the highest juvenile crime rates in the nation.

While this occurred in Maricopa County, Arizona, most other jurisdictions are the same. Anyone who has worked in these positions for a few years knows why our crime rate is as high as it is. They know and keep silent because they benefit from the continuing existence of a consistent level of crime. Though it hurts to say it, the current justice systems don't just allow crime to continue: they ensure it by creating condition that convince, particularly young people, society will condone their crimes with little or no outrage or punishment. Most often, it is only when these young people have served the needs of those who make their money from the justice system, that these offenders are then "put away" for a significant amount of time.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BE AN HONORABLE PERSON AND ALLOW THIS ABUSE OF THE SYSTEM AND YOUNG PEOPLE TO CONTINUE. WE owe our young people the benefit of effective correction.

It is important to note here, for the most part, actual Law Enforcement Officers, at least the honorable ones, do whatever they can to limit crime. They want the criminal to stop committing crimes and do what they can to provide the evidence necessary to see that each criminal is punished in the hope he will cease his criminal ways. But even when they do their job well, the prosecutors, public defenders and judges and even legislators control how the system is run, once an arrest is made. They all know how it could and should work to rightfully serve the people who pay their salaries but, instead, manipulate the laws and the administration of the laws through the prosecutor's offices and the courts, to THEIR advantage.

How dishonorable is it to control a system (by the name of "JUSTICE") that lures young people into believing committing serious crimes is a reasonable way of life, rather than convince them of the truth that such a way of life is the cause of great pain and suffering for them, their victims and those around them.

This is only one example of The Power of the Lie. There are many. I will address some of them in the future. But from this example alone, most people should be able to see what grave injustice can come from the lie, even through silence.

To be honorable people, we must love the truth and act according to it. None of those who refused to speak the truth about how juvenile crime could be significantly reduced would want to be the victim of a juvenile offender, yet, the silence of those officials produced many, many criminals and victims.

You can probably think of some examples of your own where a single lie has had grave consequences. The point here is that to be honorable people it is important to understand THE POWER OF THE LIE and do all in your power to overcome them.

TREATING OTHERS AS OURSELVES

When someone lies to us or about us, and that lie causes us harm, we all want that individual to change and tell the truth, so we don't suffer from that lie. That is, precisely, why there is a Fundamental Human Right to The Truth. Because no one wants to suffer as a result of lies, everyone needs to tell the truth. If we are not willing to be truthful with others, we cannot, justly, claim, for ourselves, a Fundamental Human Right to The Truth.

Remember, fundamental human rights are only RIGHTLY possessed by those who will recognize, honor and defend those rights for innocent others. If you will not honor another's right to the truth, by being truthful with them, why should they or anyone else be truthful with you?

I know many of you are saying: I know I haven't always told the truth. My answer to you is: CHANGE! You can be truthful with all innocent others and they need to be truthful with you. We need to, mutually, agree to live by this fundamental principle of valuing and acting according to the truth, because we want others to value and be truthful with us.

MUST WE ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH?

It is important to say, at this point, there is a time when the truth should NOT be told. WAIT! Did I read this correctly? you may ask. That is right. IT IS NOT always the right thing to tell the truth. [Because we value the truth, it is important to acknowledge speaking the truth is NOT always the right thing to do]. Because the truth is so important, is it necessary to discuss the exception to always telling the truth.

HERE IS WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

The purpose of valuing the truth, and living by it, is for the purpose of doing good. Our purpose should always be to do what is good and right. Especially for those of religious inclinations, the God we serve requires us to live according to his rules, his commands, because God has determined that doing so is best for us all. We are required to do good and speak and act against evil.

This is as fundamental as it gets: We are prohibited from doing (even cooperating with) evil and commanded to do what is good.

Valuing and acting according to the truth is an important part of this command. But, when evil, or those who are evil, try to use your value of the truth to have you cooperate with their evil actions, we must be wise enough to know: IF EVIL WILL BE DONE TO INNOCENT OTHERS AS A RESULT OF US TELLING THE TRUTH, we are required to resist aiding evil, and NOT provide the truth to those who will use it to unjustly and wrongfully cause evil to be done to innocent others.

This is a rare exception to always telling the truth, but it is one we need to understand, so that we know, above all else, we are prohibited from doing and aiding evil. [We know this because we all agree, we do not want evil to happen to us when we are innocent of wrongdoing.]

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE

If an intruder or intruders, broke into your home and threatened you, and asked if anyone was upstairs, and you knew your children were upstairs, asleep: would you be required to tell the truth? Would you tell the truth? Is it wrong to refuse to tell the truth to someone who will use it to do evil?

Once again: The Fundamental Human Right to The Truth cannot be used to cause evil to be done.

[REMEMBER, the principle of fundamental human rights, requires us to treat others according to those rights ONLY if they are willing to recognize, honor and defend those same fundamental human rights for all innocent others.] READ THAT AGAIN IF YOU HAVE TO.

There is no obligation to be truthful to one who will use that truth to do evil against any innocent other. For some, this might seem inconsistent or troublesome. But understanding that the purpose of the truth is to insure that good is done, and evil is not done, is most important, here. Evil, and the father of it, will try to use or abuse anything to achieve its goal. Deceit is at the core of evil.

In this example, the intruder/s, who we know are evil, and, you know are unjustly there to harm innocent people, (including, possibly, your children) thereby ignoring the right of innocent others to continue To Be without being harmed or killed, consequently, you have no obligation to provide him or them with the truth so they can do evil by harming the innocent. There is no moral obligation to aid evil or wrong, in any way. In fact, you are prohibited from doing so. Providing the information they seek would aid the wrongdoer in doing greater evil. Above all else: We cannot aid them in violating the Fundamental Human Rights of innocent others. Therefore, we are, in this narrow case, REQUIRED to withhold the truth from the evildoer.

Again, it is vital to know, because the intruders are violating, or about to violate the fundamental human rights of innocent others, they have voluntarily relinquished their rights and we must do all in our power to prevent such violators from violating the fundamental human rights of all innocent others.

THE TRUTH IS MEANT FOR GOOD

The truth is meant for good, not evil. It is meant to solve problems honestly, so that the right and just thing can be done.

Therefore, it is important to know, our love for the truth requires us to note this rare but real and important exception.

We will have more examples, in the future, of the immense power of the lie. In the meantime, love the truth, and do everything you can to live your life by it and promote the love of the truth to everyone. This writer believes God will bless you for doing so.

LAST UPDATED: March 2, 2016

FundamentalHumanRights.Org
Because Fundamental Human Rights belong to All who will Honor and Protect them for Others