Lies and Lying Liars
Our pants are on fire
10-25-2022
A long, long time ago I wrote a post about truth where I tried to bolster people into remembering that the truth in this world always overcomes lies and lying liars:
Since that time, the lies and the lying liars who tell them in this society seem to be increasing. I got to the point in my own life last week where I was just tired of it all and sent off one of my electric psalms to God asking why is the madness continuing and what can we do?:
After I finished writing that post, I got in my car and drove 45 minutes to Mass thinking “God do you even hear us?” “Do you even hear what I say half the time, or am I just wasting my time with my stupid substack posts?” Immediately, this is what came on the radio after I asked God those questions:
† “Beth I hear you calling - but I can’t come home right now.” †
That is my real name in that clip (coinky dinky?). God, just answered me. He heard. He always hears. But wait … what was that about not coming home right now? My idiotic, sarcastic human brain immediately converted that answer into:
† “Yes I can hear you Beth, and your made up name Napoleon, you are just completely wasting my time!” †
Or in other words - † “Geesh, Beth/Napoleon, why do you keep bugging me? Of course I hear you, but I’ve got more important people to talk to right now, and it’s not you!” †
Well now, okey dokey, I thought, with the way the world is now I’m sure that is 100% true, and off to Church I went.
Sigh, you’re boring me Napoleon, what does all of the above and your delusions have to do with lies, lying liars and why are our pants on fire?
Bear with me. As I was sitting in Church that day still a little peeved by how I interpreted God’s response to my prayer (I’m such an ungrateful little turd), I heard God say to me † “I listen to you, now listen to Me” † and the Priest in the Homily started talking about lies and lying. Why this struck me as important is this is the first time in all my years as a Catholic that any Priest ever talked about lying as a sin and how it is destructive to society. This Homily struck all the chords in what I was feeling about what is going on now in this world.
In a nutshell, God is majorly upset with lies and our lying and wants us to cut it out - NOW.
So here is what God said through the Homily that day:
What are Lies?
It is sad that we have to define the word “lies” nowadays but in general for a statement to be a lie, the speaker must both believe the statement to be false and intend to deceive another person. A lie is a sin against a moral society. Here is what is taught about lying in the Bible:
Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor. (Eighth Commandment Exodus 20:16 ).
Six things there are, which the Lord hateth, and the seventh his soul detesteth: ... [17] Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, ... [18] A heart that deviseth wicked plots, feet that are swift to run into mischief, ... [19] A deceitful witness that uttereth lies, and him that soweth discord among brethren. ... [20] (Proverbs 6:16-19)
Here is what Jesus specifically says about lies and lying:
But the things which proceed out of the mouth, come forth from the heart, and those things defile a man. ... [19] For from the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies. ... [20] These are the things that defile a man …. (Matthew 15:18-20)
Why do you not know my speech? Because you cannot hear my word. [44] You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he stood not in the truth; because truth is not in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof. [45] But if I say the truth, you believe me not. (John 8:43-45)
A lie is an intentional falsehood. However, that word has now been banished from society because it is too harsh and mean. A lie is now simply known as misinformation, disinformation, misspeaking, misquotes, narratives, fact-checks, and everything that makes excuses for people who spread intentional falsehoods. Nobody lies anymore, they just misspeak and others take it wrong. It’s always the fault of the person being lied to, and never the fault of the liar, and this attitude spreads and spreads.
Who are Lying Liars?
All of us. We all lie. Yes, some people lie more than others and some people are lying liars ALL THE TIME. Some lies affect more people than others, but all lies affect people, even if it is just one other person or even just yourself.
The problem with society now is nobody believes he/she is a lying liar, because there are no lies. The Eighth Commandment has been excised from society and now we are all saints who can say whatever we want, whenever we feel like it, knowing it is false, and frankly not caring one whit. Look at the “powerful important people" - they misspeak all the time and are never held accountable for it. If they can do it, why not us?
And so we all start slipping into little white lies, then normal gray lies, and finally big fat black lies. In the end, a society of liars exists and nobody knows what the truth is anymore. Have you found that you no longer trust ANYONE or ANYTHING anyone says anymore? That is because we are all liars, and since there is no shame in lying and everybody does it, what’s the big deal?
The big deal is that lies and lying liars destroy societies.
Lying is the most direct offense against the truth. . . . By its very nature, lying is to be condemned. It is a profanation of speech, whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others. The deliberate intention of leading a neighbor into error by saying things contrary to the truth constitutes a failure in justice and charity. . . .
Since it violates the virtue of truthfulness, a lie does real violence to another. It affects his ability to know, which is a condition of every judgment and decision. It contains the seed of discord and all consequent evils. Lying is destructive of society; it undermines trust among men and tears apart the fabric of social relationships. (Catechism nos. 2483, 2485-86)
No truer words were ever spoken. Lying is destructive of society; it undermines trust among men and tears apart the fabric of social relationships. Does the state of our society sound like this now?
Why are our Pants on Fire?
Yes, as everyone with a brain can see, our society is broken. The truth, although always there, is buried under a ton of lies. God is telling us to stop the lies, stop being lying liars or expect much worse to come.
The only way to the truth is to stop the lies. We need to call out everyone who lies, and make being called a “lying liar” a shameful thing once again. We ourselves need to guard against the lies we tell. We need to feel shame when we lie, apologize, and tell the truth, even if it’s a little white lie.
People look to God and pray and wonder why he doesn’t help us with our broken society. Because we don’t listen to him. The Commandment “thou shalt not bear false witness against they neighbor” is pretty clear and straightforward. But we’ve decided it’s not needed anymore for a functional society. Boy are we wrong. It is the basis of a functional society.
Our pants are on fire now. We know it and we don’t like what’s going on. We want the fire to end. But only we can put out the fire that we lit. God is not going to swoop in and remove all the bad guys or mete out the societal justice we so desperately want, because if that were the case we’d be swept out in the waste as well. We are all lying liars living in a society that no longer considers lies as sins.
Technically God should toss us all out. But He doesn’t. He hears us - He hears our prayers for truth. He is now responding and telling us to stop the lies and the truth will be revealed. Oh, and as for me assuming God was telling me He had more important people to talk to - that was wrong. We are all important in His eyes. I can see that now. He just wanted me to wait one more hour to hear the sermon and His response to my prayer.
Loved hearing your story. Makes me think God does speak to us, we just don't listen to or like the answer. Many many thanks for sharing.
Naomi Wolf's latest article on forgiving but not forgetting how the unvaccinated were/are treated in small town America. I like her articles, simple and easy to read.
https://naomiwolf.substack.com/p/a-lost-small-town?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=676930&post_id=80887996&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email