Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1889-01-18
EVERYDAY LYING.


.o.k Preacher's Opinion OF po,,,.
s"c'sty. Trade and PoIitics.
hev. Dr. T. Q. Bolles. pastor of tho
lhird Unitarian Church On w.
Eleventh street. preached RECENTLY nn
me question lis Lie Ever Right o.,
Dr. Bodies said he presumed the neo
PIE mad como to hear him decide the
righc ana wrong OF lying to screen
criminals, cheer the sick. sunnross
unnecessary scandal, shield honest,
from fraud and innocence from ,,io.
But he wasn't going to touch anv sucb
hair-splitting points. They had best
DO lett TO every mans conscience ana
common sense when the emoroencv
came. Nobody would saw that war -
not an unmitigated wrono and rot
emergencies came in every nations
NE when 1t was necessary to slav
ones fellow men. There might he
emergencies in any mans life HI
would talk OF the lies of everyday life
Il denounce," said he, "tbe social
lie, the lie of a life veneered and var
nlshed with the politeness and fashion
OF the world; the lies men live and the
hes men tell to make life easy, society
pleasant and the wheels OF existence
smooth running. The lies mon ,;,o
are worse than those they tell. The
great lie OF a life is to live bevond
one means, to keep up appearances
as the phrase goes; to assume a nosi.
ton one does not earn; to form rela-
tionships one is not entitled IN. To
spread examples that are lies. and
eventually to defraud creditors who
would never have become creditors en-
cept for the lie that the man has lived
NO life in the universe is so hol-
low as the life of polite and fashion
able society. In no life is there more
falseness, less honor, more polite
plantations, moro moral rottenness.
mere Is more honor among thieves
than in the parlors of New York.
more truth among gamblers and more
honesty among sharpers than among
those whose pride it is to be the most
polite and the most fashionable. To
prevent unpleasant truths from com.
ing up, to make things go, to lubri-
cate the social machinery-for these
reasons social lies are told and acted,
and the result is that society's ideals
are bad and it's methods false. The
truth told in a drawing-room is like a
breath of pure air in an atmosphere of
fevers and asthmas. Is social life
ever right and healthful? one involun-
tarily asks. If we could have honesty
there it might be.
Another everyday lie is the COM
mercial lie, the profitable, monev-mak-
ing lie. Is there ever any justifica-
ton for it? The plea is made every
day that in these days of competition
it is impossible to get along without
complying with the general custom of
commercial lying. Men say they
can't get to the top and be honest with
their competitors. l should be sorry
to think the flower of our civilization
so poisonous, so noXious as that. But,
if it is true, one can better afford not
to get at the top than to lie. 1t is not
necessary to be rich. 1t is necessary
to tell the truth.
"Now comes the most provoking of
all lies. 1t seems strange that in this
Christian church, city and country-a
country ruled by religion which stands
for eternal truth-we should have to
speak of political lies. Men labor
under strange delusions in these en-
lightened times. They think they can
cover their personality under the flag
of hall, party or committee. But they
can't. Back of every SANDER, every
lie told to pander to the lower ele-
ments, every trick, every rascality,
every editorial and stump speech
which does not deal in truth, there
stands a man. He may think himself
hidden, but he isn't. Because every
body else lies is no excuse. For every
deed there is responsibility, and the
arrows OF God are surer than those of
men. IN. y Saa.