Maxim Magazine asked Tara
Reid, who was expected to
testify in a Capital murder case, if it is ever
OK to lie, she answered:
“Yes, it’s like, I know I’m lying, but it’s just
gonna make my life so
much easier.”
—Newsweek, March 4, 2002, p.
17 Illustration by Jim
L. Wilson
There is some room to agree
with Ms Reid if you only
think of yourself and short-term consequences,
but when you take into account
the feelings of others and the consequences of
being labeled a liar, there
is no way I can affirm her views.
In the end, if I don’t have
integrity, I have nothing.
Proverbs 14:5 NASB A faithful
witness will not lie,
But a false witness speaks lies.”
________________________________________
LYING
The Arizona Republic reports
that a Scottsdale City
Council candidate is being investigated for
fabricating his past, including
the claim he was quitting the race because he
has leukemia.
Gary Tredway, who was
involved two years ago in the
passage of a statewide ballot measure aimed at
curbing political corruption,
was making his first run for public office and
had caught the attention
of the slow-growth faction in Scottsdale. He
admitted this week that he
made up parts of his resume-including his
college background, his birthplace
and his family background—after questions were
raised by reporters. Then,
he admitted making up the leukemia diagnosis
that had triggered an outpouring
of sympathy in Scottsdale on Monday.
"I personally asked him
before we chose him, I asked
him, 'Is there anything in your background that
would be an embarrassment?
Is there anything in your background that the
newspapers could pick up
and be an embarrassment to you and to us who are
supporting you?' He said,
'No,'" coalition member Darlene Petersen
said.
Reached by a reporter
Tuesday, Tredway said, "I have
no comment," without even waiting for a
question.
Tredway campaigned against
city incumbents, calling
the current council "dysfunctional," and used a
bulldog as a symbol on
his campaign brochure, over the statement: "I
want to be your watchdog!"
In the same piece, he referred to himself as
having "experience, integrity,
commitment, leadership."
Follow-up reports indicate
that Gary Tredway is most
likely not even his real name.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/0209tredway.shtml
Illustration
by Jim L. Wilson
"Love does not delight in
evil, but rejoices with
the truth" (1 Cor.13:6)
LYING
A new poll conducted by the
Associated Press and Ipsos
suggests most Americans feel lies are an
acceptable, even necessary part
of daily life, even though most people dislike
the idea of lying. The poll
of 1,000 adults found 65 per cent of those
questioned said it was OK to
lie to avoid hurting someone's feelings, but
over half of the respondents
to the same poll said lying was never justified.
One third of the respondents
said they thought it was acceptable to lie to
take an extra day off work,
while very few said it was acceptable to lie on
a resume, cheat on taxes,
or lie to your spouse about an affair. While the
poll found four in 10
people said they had never had to lie or cheat,
one in 10 of the same people
admitted they might have told a lie in the past
week.
Teresa Velin is a perfect
example of the prevailing
view of truthfulness. Velin says recently she
didn't feel like getting
dressed and leaving home for a movie date on a
hot afternoon, so she told
a friend that she was busy. Velin adds, "I'm not
always as busy as I appear
to be, but I don't want to ruin a friendship
over a broken movie date."
Considering the poll results,
Ethics columnist Randy
Cohen says "Not only is lying justified, it is
sometimes a moral duty.
An obvious example is when you're lying to
protect someone from serious
harm. But much less extreme cases often call for
lies." Cohen warns that
lies do have a cost. He notes one key cost of
lying is the loss of credibility.
Once someone finds out you have lied to them,
you lose credibility in their
eyes.
—http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/07/11/lies.we.tell.ap/index.html.
Illustration
by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.
Ephesians 4:25 (CEV) "We are
part of the same body.
Stop lying and start telling each other the
truth."
LYING
Gregg Allman told a lie. He can’t quit thinking
about it even though
it slipped his lips in 1971. His brother Duane
asked Gregg, “Did you steal
my coke?” He wasn’t talking about a soda. Gregg
had snuck into Duane’s
house and snorted a half a gram of the illegal
substance but he told his
brother he didn’t do it. His brother apologized
for accusing him.
It was their last conversation. An unfortunate
motorcycle accident killed
Duane before they talked again. Gregg’s last
words to his brother were
a lie and the memory of that lie, even over all
these years, tortures Gregg.
--The Week, May 25, 2012 p. 8 Illustration by
Jim L. Wilson and Rodger
Russell
The interesting thing here is that most of us
would think that the more
important problem was the crime committed in
abusing the drug or even in
stealing. The thing that haunts Gregg Allman,
however, is the lie he told
his brother.
Ephesians 4:25 (ESV) Therefore, having put away
falsehood, let each
one of you speak the truth with his neighbor,
for we are members one of
another.
LYING
A survey by CareerBuildercom found that nearly
a third of workers called
in sick to their employer to get a day off. One
in six ditched work just
to catch up on sleep. Some of the more creative
fabrications include a
botched hair-dye job, a grandmother who was
being exhumed for a police
investigation, and an Employee who was to upset
to work after watching
The Hunger Games.
Some of the ways these liars are caught is when
they return to work
with a new tan or they are tagged on Facebook at
a weekday golf outing.
This kind of sick-day abuse alienates both
managers and co-workers who
have to handle the workload for the missing
employee. Thirty percent of
employers have checked up on a workers excuse
and seventeen percent have
fired an employee for a phony excuse.
We should honest in our everyday dealings. It
brings reproach on Christ
when we tell lies to get what we want. --Jim L.
Wilson and Rodger Russell
USA Today, October 11, 2012 p. 1A
Ephesians 4:25 (HCSB) Since you put away lying,
Speak the truth, each
one to his neighbor, because we are members of
one another.
LYING
Lance Armstrong was one of the greatest
cyclists in the history of the
game. He won Tour de France 7 times. However,
the USADA recently exposed
his lies. He did not play fair. The USADA has
strong evidence that Armstrong
used dope. Doping ruined his career as a
cyclist. He lost all his medals
and past glories. Furthermore, he won’t be able
to contest again in the
future, ever. Armstrong used to stand for
courage and determination.
Now, everyone sees him as a bad apple in sports.
His lies hurt more than
he could ever imagine. --Jim L. Wilson and Tin
Le
Colossians 3:9 (ESV) Do not lie to one another,
seeing that you have
put off the old self with its practices
LYING
Some people are bad liars. A Nebraska man was
fined $100 for marijuana
possession after police searched his car and
found his stash. The sheriff
said that his deputies stopped the 21-year-old
man on suspicion of driving
drunk and did a quick search of his vehicle.
Under the passenger seat they
discovered a sour cream tub with the words, “not
weed” written on the plastic
lid. Inside the tub was the illegal
substance.
-- Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.
The Week March 20, 2015 p. 12
Proverbs 12:17 (HCSB) Whoever speaks the truth
declares what is right,
but a false witness, deceit.
LYING
Lucy
Kellaway, writing in the Financial
Times, says one key to being a
successful chief executive is learning to lie.
It is important to your success
to learn to bear false witness in at least
four areas. Never admit you are not
enjoying your work. Never say you don’t like
someone in your organization.
Don’t bad mouth the company, and never tell
anyone you are unsure about
something. She concludes by saying “The “simple
truth” is
that a chief executive can only be honest up
to a point. The CEO’s chair just
isn’t suited for those too addicted to saying
what they really think.”
Besides
the commandment to not bear
false witness Paul tells us that part of the
Christian life is to speak the
truth in Love. —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger
Russell.
