Telling Lies? Yes Papa!

What was considered so sacred and an invaluable moral had undergone a sea of change;To put it in other words, almost every moral value that was held in high esteem had lost its originality; what we have now are only their modified or degenerated versions.

The Truth is one such moral value that has degenerated and undergone a sea of change.The ever growing human culture and civilization with all its complexities have made the Truth a casualty and it is more violated than followed both in the public as well in the private life of the human beings. Telling or speaking anything contrary to the truth is considered as an act of necessity or expediency.

In this modern world, the Truth has become a victim in many facets of the human beings particularly in their public life.

In the diplomatic circle, an ambassador is considered as a person sent to lie abroad for his country. Invariably, he draws a rosy or vivid picture of his country to boost up its value and image, in the country where he is sent and among the comity of nations; to gain favor or undue social, political and economic advantage and to have an upward swing in the balance of power in favor of his country; the tool used is diplomacy; the motivating force is patriotism or the nationalism; the ultimate casualty is the Truth as a moral value.

Politics is yet another force which has treated the Truth in a most unceremonious way showing scant respect or utter disregard. Particularly in a democracy, during elections, politicians always cheat people giving them false or empty promises or hopes to garner their votes; the ultimate objective is winning the election and gaining power and to boost up their political career; the end justifies the means; the Truth is torn into pieces and thrown into the air and hence the Truth is in a sorry state of affairs.

Even in the army whose integrity or promptness can never be questioned,the truth as a moral value pales into insignificance on the pretext of tactics or strategy. When a country is at war with its enemy, even at the battlefront the fighting soldiers are never informed of the actual reverses suffered by the army for fear of losing their morale or support. Even if the enemy has made inroads into the country's territory, the truth is never divulged and it is always underplayed. The underlying or motivating factor is the nationalism as well as patriotism;ultimately the Truth is kept under a low profile or even eclipsed.

Similarly, in the hospitals, where the patients are getting medical treatment for their illness, the doctors invariably burke their ailment; their actual condition or seriousness, on the pretext that it may psychologically affect their mental condition and may have an impact on his recovery. The net result is the Truth becomes the classic casualty and the patient never knows from what he or she is suffering from.It is an irony that in some cases like cancer or some other chronic diseases, the patient never knows the disease that he or she is actually suffering from even until his or her last breath.

The lawyers in order to achieve success in their profession,never care about the truth; they scrupulously follow or maintain that in this world you can survive only by telling lies; going a step further they even say that the Truth can be established only by telling lies. It is yet another glaring 'end justifies the means' concept; the motivating factor is the survival of the fittest; in the end the Truth always enjoys a low key profile.

In the private life of the people, though the Truth is considered as a moral value and in fact held in high esteem, in practice, people keep it off at a distance activated or motivated by more practical considerations.

Even from their childhood days, people learn to tell lies spontaneously, out of necessity or under the practical circumstances, for fear of getting punishment, for fear of being rebuked by the parents and for fear of loosing their image, even with a consciousness that the Truth is under constant threat and violation.

Particularly among the lovers, ever since the love blossoms between them, though they are very keen and sincere about winning their love, they least bother about the moral value of the Truth, frequently telling lies, in order to create a false hope and image in their sweet heart.

Similarly in the private life of the husband and wife, they invariably flout the Truth for fear of any misunderstanding that may arise between them; wife often burking the Truth to her husband when their children's progress has not been satisfactory, when they commit any blunder or significant mischief; similarly the husband always burkes the Truth of his economic sufferings from his wife; the net result is not only the Truth becomes a casualty but also there arises serious misunderstanding between the husband and wife; this misunderstanding may be sometimes even leading to the brink of divorce.

Therefore, in the modern times, the Truth as a moral value has become an ideal to be cherished and yet to be followed.