An
idealistic quote attributed to
amelinda.
Although a
worthy goal,
complete honesty is an
impossible ideal due to the very
nature of language. When I talk to you about the
hoop-a-joob I saw on the
street, you might have a different
conception of
what the heck a
hoop-a-joob really is. Your
hoop-a-joob might be what I think of as a
how-zee-dig. It is also
impossible not to commit the
sin of omission whenever you speak with somebody else. Because you cannot tell somebody all the
various and sundry details of your
life story, you will always leave something out.
Since
complete and
honest represtation of yourself and your beliefs is impossible, the
best approximation a person can have to being totally honest is to not consciously
misrepresent themselves. For example, it's
fine and dandy for
Bill Clinton to believe that he didn't have
sex with
Monica Lewinsky. However, when talking with people who he knows don't share that same
definition of sex, to say that there was no
sex in the White House is a
lie.
Although many people believe this statement to be
absoposolutely ridiculous and that
lying is a daily necessity, there are some who believe this to be an
ideal worth upholding.
On a
personal digression, I believe that the only reason there are
people who are afraid of honesty is because they are
surprised by honesty when they see it. If when a friend asks me "
Does this dress make me look fat?" or "
Do you think a wild emu would make a good conversation piece?", I am going to give my honest answer. I once thought, why
hurt friends when you could tell a
white lie, and she and I could both go
merrily on our way. But...then, she might think wrongly that she's
looking good, when in fact that dress really does make her look a wee bit on the
pudgy side. Not that it should matter, I'd think,
*grin*, but...if I ask a question, I want
truth.
If I'm fat, I'm fat. But, some people react
violently when faced with a
truth they can't handle. I think lies just make people have a harder time understanding the reality around them, who they are, and what people think of them, and it
breaks down whatever chance we have at
truthful, honest, and open communication that helps us
connect better to the people around us that we
care about. If
everybody told the truth, people would have a better time
dealing with reality and not have to be
straining to peer through the clouds of the half-truths of our friends to see reality shining through.
*smile*