Lies often data manipulated to serve ego

Charles Gruber, Sufi minister, student of Zen Buddhism and member of the Oread Friends Meeting:

White is the color of a lie that is minor in flavor, inoffensive in effect and somewhat acceptable in the moral flow of interactions. Presumably, a white lie will cause no harm (wrong!), protect the teller from consequences (wrong!) or enable the relationship between the teller and the receiver to function better (wrong!).

The problem is that lies often are data that are manipulated to serve the ego functions of the teller. Some of those ego functions are survival, superiority and appearance. So, if I must manipulate data to actually survive (a highly unlikely situation), then so be it.

But if I manipulate data in order to be superior to someone else, then my energy is directed to a struggle against another. How beneficial is that to the other person? How beneficial is it to myself? In that case, perhaps my motives for the struggle need to be examined.

And if I manipulate data to look better than another, how does giving in to my vanity help the relationship? How does it help my self?

Most people have an agreement with each other (either explicit or implicit) to tell the truth. Holding to this agreement is called accountability and is the cornerstone of trust and safety. If that agreement is fractured, it calls into question other basic agreements.

The Buddha said if you know something that is hurtful and untrue, don’t say it. If you know something that helpful and untrue, don’t say it. If you know something that hurtful and true, don’t say it. If you know something that is helpful and true, carefully pick the right time to say it.

– Send e-mail to Charles Gruber at cgruber@cgruber.com

Bible supports notion that all lies are wrong

The Rev. Marshall Lackrone, pastor, Calvary Temple Assembly of God, 606 W. 29th St. Terrace:

Taking God at his word, we cannot colorize something that is so fundamental as telling a lie. This practice is condemned in the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20:16 (King James Version): “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” Then Jesus weighs in on this by saying: Matthew 12:36: “But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Then we read what the apostle John says in Revelations 22:14-15: “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”

The Bible does not speak of white, black, brown or any other color of lie. Webster’s Dictionary says: 1a: “an assertion of something known or believed by the speaker to be untrue with intent to deceive; b: an untrue or inaccurate statement that may or may not be believed true by the speaker; 2: something that misleads or deceives.”

Even the dictionary does not gives certain colors to telling of a lie. Both James and John have helped define sin for us. See 1 John 3:4: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” James 4:17: “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” After looking at these Scriptures and the dictionary we must conclude that telling a white lie is a sin.

– Send e-mail to Marshall Lackrone at lackrone@sunflower.com