TRUTHFULNESS Expected Only of Others? - Damage Done by Untruth

Damage Done by Untruth

Consider the damage that untruth can do.  Falsehood breeds distrust between marriage mates and among family members.  Unfounded gossip can damage a person's reputation.  Cheating by employees raises operating cost and results in more expensive products. False claims on tax returns rob governments of needed revenues to provide public services.  Fabrication by researchers ruin promising careers and tarnish the reputation of respected institutions.  Dishonest get-rich-quick schemes divest gullible investors of their life savings or worse.  No wonder the Bible tells us that among the things that are detestable to Jehovah God are "a false tongue" and "a false witness that launches forth lies"! -Proverbs 6:16-19.

Widespread lying can cause damage both to individuals and to society as a whole.  Few would dispute that fact.  Why, then, do people deliberately tell what is untrue?  And is every untruth a lie? We will consider the answers to these and other questions in the next article.

Next time: Why Be TRUTHFUL?

The Watchtower, 2007