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+On Lying
+########
+
+:date: 2018-01-07
+:category: faith
+:tags: blogComment, conscience, theology
+
+(a comment to the blogpost_ by Robert O’Callahan)
+
+I think the truthfulness among Christians is overrated. Here, 
+I said it.
+
+OK, before saying anything else, I have to say that it is very 
+important, and I know what I am talking about. I had my brush 
+with an addiction, and obviously truth is the first victim of any 
+addiction, so I know that it is extremely important for me to 
+resist any temptation to *embellish* truth.
+
+However, having said that, I am quite certain that the absolute 
+100% truthfulness as required by brother O’Callahan is not what 
+God actually asks and that such requirement is just later 
+addition of modern era (?). One fun fact: there is no commandment 
+“Thou shall not lie.” among The Ten Commandments (I am persuaded 
+that “Thou shall not bear false witness” is more about 
+relationships than about plain presentation of facts). Yes, 
+truthfulness is couple of times valued highly by The Scriptures 
+(mostly Proverbs) and lying is being actively discouraged, but 
+that still doesn’t make the truth speaking the most valued 
+quality as it seems sometimes it is presented, it is not even one 
+the cardinal virtues. Two fun examples for consideration.
+
+I grew up in the Communist Czechoslovakia. Yes, it was unnatural 
+culture of fear we lived in, but I would have absolutely no 
+qualms when asked whether our family listened to The Radio Free 
+Europe (for example) to reply with the most angelic face I could 
+muster and question “What is The Radio Free Europe?”.
+
+What I mean is that when presented with a potential secret, we 
+should consider *why* the information needs to be kept secret, 
+and work on it as long as we are sure we can keep it secret.  
+There are just too many situations, when it is perfectly OK 
+pretending not knowing what was The Radio Free Europe, or when we 
+should pretend not knowing somebody has life-threatening illness, 
+or when somebody’s secret is just not ours to tell. Also, 
+I shouldn’t mention the Seal of the Confessional, should I (which 
+in my opinion applies to any confession, even when I am not 
+member of a denomination which accepts confession as 
+a sacrament)?
+
+The second example is again from my life. Before being a computer 
+programmer, I was a lawyer (graduated from two law schools: one 
+in Prague, one in US). There was absolutely no way I could betray 
+the trust of my clients who entrusted me sometimes with secrets 
+worth millions of crowns (or dollars, if you wish). Of course, if 
+Google was our client, I would with the most innocent smile 
+answer that I had no information about any browser development on 
+their side.
+
+.. _blogpost:
+    http://robert.ocallahan.org/2018/01/on-keeping-secrets.html