Avoid messy coverups
July 31, 2012 (Tuesday)
A writer for a prestigious magazine has been fired for lying about what a celebrity said. When interviewed, he admitted, “I told [him] that they (the quotes in question) were from archival interview footage provided to me by [the celebrity’s] representatives. This was a lie spoken in a moment of panic. When [he] followed up, I continued to lie, and say things I should not have said.”
This is typical of how one lie leads to another.
What’s wrong with lying? It undermines the structures of our society. We need to be able to trust others. Lies weaken the foundations of governments, businesses, and organizations of every kind.
Telling the truth is so important that one of the Ten Commandments is devoted to it. Commandment number 9 says: “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” This is the law in most countries and perjury is punishable by imprisonment, so it is a serious matter.
Merle Haggard said, “When I was in San Quentin .. I learned that it’s better to be honest, because you can’t get away from your lie.” He learned that prisoners depend upon honesty with each other, and being caught in a lie had serious consequences. If the same kind of pressure to tell the truth could be applied to everyone else, we probably wouldn’t be experiencing economic turmoil and loss of faith in our fellow man.