Truth, One Step Away From Hell

Three Philosophy by Samvel Marutyan

Reality, the state of existence not under the sovereignty of any human being. For far too long have men pushed for the notion of bending reality in accordance to whatever narrative is desired by an individual; white lies, saving face, protection from the fire of the moment—besides, how is one tiny lie going to hurt anybody?

“Lying is, almost by definition, a refusal to cooperate with others. It condenses a lack of

trust and trustworthiness into a single act. It is both a failure of understanding and an unwillingness to be understood. To lie is to recoil from relationship.” That quote is from neuroscientist Sam Harris’ book “Lying,” and in it Sam covers every aspect of the act of lying; white lies, big lies, little lies, and fundamentally concluding with the notion that no amount of lying will do anybody any good. In fact, Sam argues that it will do more than that for it will most definitely catastrophize any dilemma.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn once said, “The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. One word of truth outweighs the world.” To tell the truth is to be in accordance with reality; for would you rather reality in its entirety be on your side or against you? I highly discourage the whole “reality against you” option. You cannot get away with a falsehood, things always come back to bite you.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

—1 John 1:9 ESV

Neither am I advocating for the flamboyant dictation of everybody’s flaws nor the spewing of truth every which way (Jordan Peterson calls such things Black Truths; using the truth to willfully hurt people). Although what I am saying is to try to tell the truth, or at least not to lie. “Just that you do the right thing,” says Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, “The rest doesn’t matter.”

One step away from Hell doesn’t sound like a bad idea. Since the mere act of lying goes against the Being of reality, against the essence of God Himself. Any form of lying festers into something bigger, something more unmanageable, worse than anything imaginable; better to confront the dragon that besets you rather than to let it grow for a moment’s blindness, for the Bible tells us, “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment” (Proverbs 12:19 ESV).