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Interesting quote I heard and wondered what you thought: "I think it's a bad sign if you feel bad for telling the truth". Wonder how many in the NSA/CIA/FBI etc. feel the same way?
I would agree...if your internal -icky feeling meter' goes off it means ...oops...
"Shoulda kept my mouth shut...what the heck was my motivation in saying that?
Won't do that again!"
It IS a bad sign if you feel bad for telling the truth...something that usually comes around out of fear..we humans prefer our little fairy tales and lies to the truth..we embrace them...and will punish or ostracize those who DO speak truths...
Even worse are those who don't feel bad when they lie to us...they use those lies to get what they want from us ignorant folk who prefer to blindly trust and believe them.
It IS a bad sign if you feel bad for telling the truth...something that usually comes around out of fear..
Well, my truth telling and feeling 'a bit' bad is that it has hurt feelings...case in point here in the Christian section ...MY truth is that i think the Old T's belief in blood sacrifice is nonsense and barbaric...Well, guess what ...people that believe in it are insulted...
I'm not here to insult people...yet, my truth has done just that ...not fear ...sensitivity...i need to say the same thing but differently.
So I trust my inner meter...'do it differently'...kinder.
The question as posed in the original post is so broad as to be meaningless. We first need to specify what we are talking about. What sort of "truth" in what sort of context?
If telling the truth would be deeply hurtful to someone without any corresponding good coming out of it, it would probably be better to just say nothing.
However, other things being equal, yes, I think it's a bad sign if people feel bad for telling the truth.
Well you have the quintessential question "Do these pants make my *** look big?" - there are all sorts of ways you can avoid giving an unvarnished opinion that may indeed be true, but is not really useful, without actually lying.
There are a few people in my life, who are like Roosevelt the Great, and always "shoot straight" and expect me to do so as well. They are a real pleasure to interact with.
But most fall short of that exalted mark, and dealing with them on a realistic basis requires me to "have some courtesy, have some sympathy, have some taste"...As "Old Mick" sang about "Old Nick".
Well you have the quintessential question "Do these pants make my *** look big?" - there are all sorts of ways you can avoid giving an unvarnished opinion that may indeed be true, but is not really useful, without actually lying.
There are a few people in my life, who are like Roosevelt the Great, and always "shoot straight" and expect me to do so as well. They are a real pleasure to interact with.
But most fall short of that exalted mark, and dealing with them on a realistic basis requires me to "have some courtesy, have some sympathy, have some taste"...As "Old Mick" sang about "Old Nick".
They are only as straight as their personal prejudice against something and personal preference. In that respect they are no more truthful as any given liar as in both cases a subjective is expressed and objective is by no means determined by that subjective.
truly, a human may only state an indisputable fact, to avoid this duality. This is a rock. As it is a rock. This is sun. Moon. Sky. So on. That is objective reality and fact. The very moment one says "this is blue rock" it crosses into subjective from objective and becomes akin to lie. As a liar, to speak a lie, has to have some sort of belief into what he is lying, otherwise he will only vocalize gibberish.
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"Yes, that dress does make you look fat"
"Your cooking sucks"
"Your friends are lame"
Apparently there are limits. At most, it depends on the context and precise details of the circumstances. In short, if that truth is hurtful AND there is no compelling reason to bring it up, then best it not be brought up.
There can often be a conflict between different values. Truth telling is an absolute value: it is a principle that many adhere to regardless of consequences. For instance, telling the truth in legal matters is an absolute requirement in the practice of law, and any intentional misrepresentation is a serious breach of legal ethics. The same is true of institutions that adhere to an honor code, such as our military academies.
It can also be valued for its consequential value: we can decide that truth telling is important because it leads other people to tell the truth to us, or because it leads to a society in which people are generally trustworthy.
On the other hand, there are occasions when telling the truth will have negative consequences that are worse than the harm of not telling the truth. Because telling the truth is so important, deviating from the truth can be justified only by the most necessitous reasons. For instance, you would be not only justified in but morally required to lie if the Nazis were at your door asking if you were harboring Jews.
There could be occasions where you know that telling the truth will lead to a negative consequence, and that might make you feel bad, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's a "bad sign". For instance, someone asks you for a job reference, or lists you as a reference without asking you, and you think the person is unqualified. It's possible to feel bad about having to give a negative reference without questioning whether telling the truth is the right thing to do.
Contrary to an earlier observation, telling the truth does not require being insulting or hurtful in the way you express that truth. A person who asks if the dress makes her look fat does want to know the truth, and if you don't tell the truth she may go out looking bad; you could answer, though, by saying that you don't think it looks good on her, or that it might be better to find a different style or cut: that would provide the needed information without being insensitive or mean about it.
Well, my truth telling and feeling 'a bit' bad is that it has hurt feelings...case in point here in the Christian section ...MY truth is that i think the Old T's belief in blood sacrifice is nonsense and barbaric...Well, guess what ...people that believe in it are insulted...
I'm not here to insult people...yet, my truth has done just that ...not fear ...sensitivity...i need to say the same thing but differently.
So I trust my inner meter...'do it differently'...kinder.
and yet you are still saying it the same way
just now
in the post you just wrote
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