Honesty, it is often required and seldom practiced in its totality. I dare say that to find someone that is 100% honest 100% of the time is a virtual impossibility. Pessimistic you think? Not really, I like to think of it as a pragmatist perspective. Shall I walk you through my reasoning?

The American heritage dictionary tells us that Honesty is the quality or condition of being honest; integrity, Truthfulness and sincerity. This is essentially supported by Wikipedia that goes a bit further by explaining that Honesty is the human quality of communicating and acting truthfully related to truth as a value, which includes listening, and any action in the human repertoire — as well as speaking. It even elaborates by giving a synapses of superficial honesty, which is simply stating facts and views as best one truly believes them to be.

Now this is where it gets sticky because it is then subject to human self-deception and flawed reasoning to fill specific agendas. Which brings me to my point of near impossibility of finding someone that speaks truthfully 100% of the time.  Key word “Near”

Example:  Most people consider their selves to be honest yet they would lie (make up excuses) to take a day off work, why they are late or fail to show up for an event, why they don’t want to spend time with a particular friend, family member, coworker and justify it by catergorizing it as harmless. The old “what you don’t know won’t hurt you” theory.

But the fact is, a lie, is a lie, is a lie, no matter how sweet its told, how well its sold, how pretty the wrapping or how high its slong.  A vast majority of society have become so desensitized to lies due the same self-deluded selectiveness about what constitute a lie that now there seems to be this line of ratio factoring when it comes to lies. It starts any where from the white lies, i.e. “supposed” harmless lies, the somewhat acceptable lie, the tolerable lie, the lies by ommissions, to the oh my “God” unacceptable lie, to the absolutely no forgiveness blasphemous lie, where this needle stops is dependent upon and relative to people’s value systems and ethos as it is subject to human selectiveness and that’s a problem. 

Now I am not here standing on any holier than thou pulpet casting aspersions on any particular person, persons, or people because even in saying all that I have said I realize that I am subject to the very same things to which I speak as I am perfectly imperfect and humanly flawed.

My point is A lie is a lie, whether it is big or small, harmful or harmless it is still a lie and one needs to be conscious when one tell it, and accountable when one is called on it.  I mean a dog is a dog, and it doesn’t become a cat simply because one wishes it to be. It should be the same with lies. 

Peace.

What do you think?