Lies and Double Lies

Politicians lie. So do entertainers, salesmen, lobbyists, mirrors and scales (Okay, the last two may be just wishful thinking. )


First, let me make clear what a lie is.

A lie is a deliberate denial, distortion, or evasion of the truth. It is giving of false information intentionally for the purpose of deception. The key word to understand lies is the world deliberate. A liar intends to be a liar. He is not mistaken or misinformed. He actually intends to deceive. It is not an accident.

But the not all lies are the same. An ordinary lie is perpetrated by a person or persons who know what they are doing it deceptive. It is easy for us to condemn such lies, because the culpability for them fall upon a small group--a liar or liars. But there are lies for which encompass a much greater field of culpability. These are lies which are supported by a society at large by silence or false assent. These lies become not only a shame on a few, but shame to the many. These are double lies. They are much harder to deal with, and have much wider consequences than ordinary lies.

A double lie is not believed by larger society, but it is supported as if it is believed. We all know that it is a lie, but no one wants to admit it. We go along with the lie because we are afraid not to, or because we receive from benefit for ourselves, or because we don't want to rock the boat. No one wants to call it what it is, so it continues to exist forever, or at least until it ceases to be useful.

An example of a double lie is the story of the emperor's new clothes. Two lying tailors convince a king that they can make a magic suit that only a fool can not see. The king, being stupid, believes it. It would seem that such a rank deception would not hold up long when exposed to the wider world, but incredibly it does. The king parades around the town, while people praise his beautiful new clothes. The whole town participates in the lie. Because each one is afraid to tell what they see with their own eyes. Cowardice and selfishness keeps the whole country from speaking their mind. nly one little boy, who has nothing to gain from the deception, speaks up and exposes the lie.

The Nazis told Germany that Jews were subhuman. Of course the Germans did not think that the Jews were subhuman, but they were too afraid to say it. It just that the Nazis were more powerful. As a result millions of people died. Stalin said that Communism worked in Russia. All the average Russian had to do was to look around, and they could see that it didn't, but fear kept them from saying so. Their silence again contributed to the death of millions. Modern, nonjudgmental thinking says that all religions are equally valid and deserve equal tolerance. Yet even in the wake of 9-11, we still refuse to believe our own eyes.

The world is full of liars, and always has been. But whenever we keep silent about the lie, we lie again, and the lie becomes a double lie.

A modern example of a double lie is the medical use of marijuana. Those who promote it know that they are being deceptive. They admit it among themselves. They want to legalize the drug. The argument that it is somehow medicinal is a smoke screen, and they know it. Thousands of marijuana "clinics" have sprung up around California. One LA paper has a a marijuana critic who rates the quality of the various clinics. One clinic sells marijuana-flavored ice cream.

How can marijuana be good for our health, if in order to take it, be must inhale smoke? Is it rational to assume that, if there are legitimate medical uses for it, that it would not be better to take it in pill or tablet form under a doctors supervision than to allow it to be used in unmeasured doses whenever we want it? Would it not be better to isolate the substances in marijuana that are useful and treat people with them, just like we have done with most herbal medicines?

Even so , many will defend the lie of medical. They do so for a variety of reasons. Some defend it with the hope of growing it for profit. Others want to use it recreationally. Still others are just embarrassed to be thought of as intolerant prohibitionists. So they say nothing--a double lie.

Another example is illegal immigration. There are thirty million Americans who need jobs, and there are eleven million people working here illegally. Every one of those people is working because of stolen social security numbers, fake licenses, and counterfeit green cards. Those for whom they work are getting rich off paying subminimum wages. Many are treated like slave labor. Human smugglers rob them of their life savings to get here Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people are killed by criminals in order to get into this country illegally. Yet somehow we never speak of the horror and hardship it brings of so many people.

The answers to illegal immigration are simple Just require a social security number check whenever a person gets a job, enrolls children in school, applies for food stamps, or seeks out public welfare. When someone is arrested automatically check their papers and their status. So why don't we?

Because of the double lie. One group doesn't want to offend the Hispanic community, because it would cost them votes. Another group doesn't want to enforce the law and lose their cheap labor. Millions of other simply do not want to seem intolerant or racist--as if racism had anything to do with legal status. If we ever have an influx of illegal Swedes, they should be deported, too. Meanwhile, the deaths at the border and bone-grinding poverty for those who make it through goes on and on.

Or take abortion. Those who support a mother's right to chose do so by denying a child's right to live. There is no moral equivalence between the two. Should a man be allowed to beat a dog simply because it is his dog to beat, and can choose to do with it what he wishes? Should a erson kill a mentally incompetent child, or a wife in a coma, when it becomes inconvenient to keep them?

There are legitimate arguments to be made whether or not a fetus is a human, I suppose. But there is no legitimate argument to be made for choosing to terminate a pregnancy if the fetus is human. Then it is the taking of life, and not subject to choice, even to the mother who bears it.

That a child's life is more important than a woman's choice seems pretty obvous. Yet a large segment of the population finds unwanted children inconvenient. so the truth becomes inconvenient. Our lack of outrage over suggesting choice is more important than a determination of humanity is a lie. We ought to be outraged at it. But we choose not to be.

The cure for double lies is simple honesty. We have to be the child shouting from the crowd that the emperor has not clothes.

Unlike in the children's tale, just having one person say it is usually not enough. The power of the double lie is such that the obvious is often shouted down. It takes our willingness to speak up and keep speaking if we are ever going to turn double lies around. Until those who see the truth are willing to speak, the double lie will always prevail.