we live in a lying society

[BobHunt]

I waled into Walgreens, a pharmacy here, and asked the cashier for a certain product. Immediately, without looking, she said, "Oh we arent carrying that any more." A week later, I went back, and found several on the shelf.
In my email, almost every day, I get an email from some company's employee saying, "In reply to the request you put on line.." and the
truth is, I didnt put any request on line at all.
Folks, these are just 2 examples of the several times a week I hear
people out in the public say something that is a complete lie, and I
am getting more and more able to detect it.
People do not have a conscience any more. They are hardened so
much that they can lie and not even bad an eye.

[Glenda Harvey]

The e-mail is obviously a lie commited to deceive. However I would give the clerk the benefit of the doubt. She could have confused her products or misheard you and honestly thought the item had been discontinued. Granted she should have asked another employee or at least have looked before answering you but I'm not sure that I would accuse her of purposely lying.

[Roy Richardson]

I waled into Walgreens, a pharmacy here, and asked the cashier for a certain product. Immediately, without looking, she said, "Oh we arent carrying that any more." A week later, I went back, and found several on the shelf.
In my email, almost every day, I get an email from some company's employee saying, "In reply to the request you put on line.." and the
truth is, I didnt put any request on line at all.
Folks, these are just 2 examples of the several times a week I hear
people out in the public say something that is a complete lie, and I
am getting more and more able to detect it.
People do not have a conscience any more. They are hardened so
much that they can lie and not even bad an eye.

yep.

I don't know what else to add to that. There are a great number of people, important and not so important, who are unfettered by the truth. That is all the more reason for us as Christians to be scrupulously honest. That is one way to shine light in darkness.

[Billy Cox]

I waled into Walgreens, a pharmacy here, and asked the cashier for a certain product. Immediately, without looking, she said, "Oh we arent carrying that any more." A week later, I went back, and found several on the shelf.
In my email, almost every day, I get an email from some company's employee saying, "In reply to the request you put on line.." and the
truth is, I didnt put any request on line at all.
Folks, these are just 2 examples of the several times a week I hear
people out in the public say something that is a complete lie, and I
am getting more and more able to detect it.
People do not have a conscience any more. They are hardened so
much that they can lie and not even bad an eye.

Since Walgreens has hundreds of products, it is entirely possible that the cashier could be mistaken about one particular item. One test question to ask is "what does this person have to gain by intentionally deceiving me?" If the answer is not immediately apparent, then it's unlikely that the cashier was lying.

While phishing emails are unquestionably dishonest, their mere existence does not support the idea that nobody tells the truth anymore.

[Meghan Schoonover]

I've cashiered for years. She was either being lazy and not wanting to check or honestly thought it was discontinued. I wouldn't assume she was automatically lying, though...stock changes *so* quickly in stores like that that it's nearly impossible to keep up. I remember taking customers to a spot and saying, "ARGH!!! It was *just* there..." and the product having mysteriously disappeared and been replaced with something else.

Not much has changed since Adam lied to God and Cain lied about his brother, eh?

[Gina Stevenson]

Not much has changed since Adam lied to God and Cain lied about his brother, eh?


No, and some people even expect others to lie for them ... such as that phone thing. Years ago this happened ... someone asked me to lie for them. Told them that I don't do it for myself, and can't, therefore, do it for them, either. Said that if someone on the other end of the line wasn't mature/adult enough to accept an explanation that someone might actually be a bit busy to talk at the moment, then that's their problem ... I wasn't going to lie and say someone sitting right there was not there.

[Marsha Lynn]

It's all because of technology. I was an honest person until my computer taught me to lie. Now I tell lies all of the time.

1. Amazon says, "You should buy this book." I say, "I already own it." It's a lie. I don't own the book; I borrowed it from the library. But I have read it and want to include it in my ratings rather than having it on my list of recommendations.

2. My financial software says, "Is this the check you're supposed to write to these people on the 10th?" I say, "No." Another lie. I've learned from experience that if I tell the truth, it will modify the amount for my next payment and I don't want it to do so.

For every question my computer asks me, I have to consider what it will do with my answer and customize my response in order to get the result I want. Often it is to my advantage to lie. This is just another example of the dark side of technology.

OK, my opening sentences are untrue. I knew much about the benefits of lying long before I grasped any concept of the benefits of living honestly and long, long before my first computer-prompted lie.

The truth is, if one doesn't consider the value of a clean conscience, lying typically comes out on top in real life as much as when sitting in front of a computer screen. The only obvious advantage of honesty is the freedom from having to keep your story straight. It's not like society gives out any medals for telling the truth.

The true value of honesty cannot be taught; it must be learned by taking the risk of truth-telling when lying is obviously a better choice. Honesty tends to be costly, and the value of trustworthiness is underestimated by a lot of people.

Still, I often marvel at the skills of today's young people in the art of lying. I try to avoid testing people's honesty in the library by asking them questions to which I already know the answers. Instead, I simply respond to what they have done by reminding them of the consequences of such behavior. Almost without exception, what I get is wide-eyed innocence and denial, even when I am confident that I know exactly what has occurred and that I'm talking to the culprit. It's highly unusual for anyone to admit their guilt even by subtle means such as by breaking eye contact. The last bit of honesty I encountered actually came from the friends of the culprit who indicated via body language that it was the friend rather than they who was guilty.

Apparently, honesty, even reluctant and unintentional honesty, is most valuable when it can be used for blame-shifting.

:rolleyes:

Marsha

[Paul Whitaker]

This thread brought to mind an incident of " "(I don't know what you would call it.)

IN Swaziland we had petitioned the manager of the store to carry a certain item. They did order it and start selling it.

Later, we went into the store looking for that item.

We inquired as to why the items were not on the shelves.

His comment, "Well, we really don't carry it anymore because we couldn't keep it on the shelves.":rolleyes: