By hiding away secrets that haunt us we are stunting our own growth as well as the growth of those who look up to us. The lies we tell in order to deny the truth of things is what is the greatest obstacle to human development. We tell ourselves that our lies are greater than the truth because the truth is so damaging to us or to others. What we don't consider is that the lies are most always found out to be lies and then the damage is exponentially complex instead of just simple. Our fear of being imperfect is often the culprit and for that we are a shameful species. Our imperfection is a given yet too many prefer to lie about even that!
Set aside the damage we do to ourselves for a moment and consider the damage we do to those who look up to us. There are eyes watching us as examples of how we live and how they then can direct their own lives. These young souls often end up basing their perceptions on the lies we tell. How can it be that we are so selfish as to not trust their right to know the truth and then allow them to judge us based upon that? Are we so important in our own minds that it is irrelevant to us how their reality is shaped by the lies we produce?
A society that opens itself up to scrutiny is a society that can master it's own destiny through honesty. If there is one thing I can give of a positive nature to religion it is this. For the most part religion teaches souls to be honest and tell the truth. And as an added measure for the followers to comply, religion teaches that an almighty omnipresent God is watching their every move, thus forcing them to be better than if they knew they could get away with a lie. I prefer just holding myself accountable to be a good person as much as humanly possible without a deity as a sovereign. I have found that telling lies to protect myself from shame or regret is a crutch I don't need. I am responsible for who I am and that will be my destiny, not some cowardly act to hide my shame for being frail.
Set aside the damage we do to ourselves for a moment and consider the damage we do to those who look up to us. There are eyes watching us as examples of how we live and how they then can direct their own lives. These young souls often end up basing their perceptions on the lies we tell. How can it be that we are so selfish as to not trust their right to know the truth and then allow them to judge us based upon that? Are we so important in our own minds that it is irrelevant to us how their reality is shaped by the lies we produce?
A society that opens itself up to scrutiny is a society that can master it's own destiny through honesty. If there is one thing I can give of a positive nature to religion it is this. For the most part religion teaches souls to be honest and tell the truth. And as an added measure for the followers to comply, religion teaches that an almighty omnipresent God is watching their every move, thus forcing them to be better than if they knew they could get away with a lie. I prefer just holding myself accountable to be a good person as much as humanly possible without a deity as a sovereign. I have found that telling lies to protect myself from shame or regret is a crutch I don't need. I am responsible for who I am and that will be my destiny, not some cowardly act to hide my shame for being frail.
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