Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

People have been lying forever, and although there was a famous study that suggested that Koko the Gorilla blamed a cat for the damage she caused with a temper tantrum, I maintain that lying is one of those traits that separates us from other species. Ravens and coyotes might be tricksters; the fox might be cunning; the bird might deceive predators in order to protect her offspring. But the human is the one that out and out lies, often only for small personal gain.

People lie for money, they lie to save face. They lie to cover up mistakes or to avoid having to work. Sometimes people lie to protect others from harm. Sometimes they lie for pleasure. The little guy lies and the big guy lies. Sometimes it seems that everybody lies although I know for a fact that that's not true.

Philosophers from long ago contemplated the reasons for, and implications of, lying. Some asserted that lying was wrong because it's a perversion of the gift of speech. Others suggested that lying undermines trust in society. Nietzsche said that the only people who don't lie are those who find it too hard to maintain a lie.

I recently witnessed an adult lying in the presence of his child and mine. The outcome was that he saved a couple of dollars, and in the grand scheme of life it wasn't the worst transgression possible. But I worry about the effect that all of our little lies have on our children, when taken together. It's the same concern I have about people who bend the law when driving, or songs with inappropriate content. A little here and there might not seem all that bad, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm no saint in a lot of respects, but I've got a thing about lying. I don't like to lie. And when I see a child observe a lot of lies over his or her lifetime, I've got to think it has an impact. It's bound to.

So what? So what if our children grow up to be liars? They could earn money by lying -- or they could lose it. They could earn fame -- or notoriety. Lying could keep them out of jail -- but it could also buy them a ticket to jail.

Lying could help them build relationships, I suppose, but -- in my opinion --lying is ultimately poisonous to relationships, and relationships are the foundation of society. Fame and money and power and all that stuff you can get by lying are not what bring you happiness in the end. It's relationships that matter. I agree with the philosopher (I think it may have been Thomas Aquinas) who said that lying undermines truth in society, but I'd take it one step further. Lying undermines society.

Ann Landers said the naked truth is always better than the best-dressed lie. Pearl Bailey said you never find yourself until you face the truth. And another famous pearl of wisdom was spoken by Pearl S. Buck, who said that truth is always exciting, and that life is dull without it. So why lie?

Children know when they're quite young that lying is wrong, even if they don't understand the philosophical reasons why, and that's why they so readily chastise one another when a lie is discovered. As adults, it's our moral obligation to uphold that instinctive value that children have by telling the truth and by refusing to let the liars go without consequence.

And that's the truth about how I feel about lying.