What does a person gain from being untruthful? It seems someone may perpetuate untruth so one can gain some advantage. The advantage may be to protect one’s reputation, so others do not become aware of one’s mistake and failures, so one does not appear guilty. Another reason may be to gain an advantage or power over others by perpetuating an untruth. By speaking untruthfully, a person can manipulate others. Truth then does not matter. What is important is the advantage one gains by being untruthful. When pushed to the extreme, the truth becomes irrelevant to that person. What is important is only the advantage or power that one gains by being untruthful. One who is focused solely on imagining one’s power, and cares little about the consequences of his or her untruth on others, is known as a megalomaniac.
Why do people believe what is not true? One reason is that if they accept someone’s lie or falsehood, they may also gain some sense of power. One may want to be identified with the person who perpetuates the lie. By accepting the lie, people clothe themselves with the mystique of the person they perceive as powerful. Some people accept the lie or untruth and continue to spread falsehoods because they see it as beneficial to their desires for acceptance. If the original perpetrator of the lie or untruth admits his or her falsehood, others may still believe the falsehood. They will not necessarily believe the instigator of the lie who is now telling the truth.
Sometimes people are victimized or perceive themselves as victims. It may be useful for them to accept an untruth offered by another since it deepens their sense of victimization. They begin to see other people as the cause of their misfortune. Accepting the lie helps them separate themselves from others, to see the other as the enemy, the ones they must fight against.
Often it is easier for people to accept the lie than to engage in serious reflection and study to determine the truth. It may take effort to unmask the falsehood presented. It may be necessary to listen and humbly dialogue with others who have viewpoints different from one’s own. However, holding onto the erroneous perceptions, one may be unwilling to spend energy researching for what is true. It is easier for them to accept the falsehood.
There is also internal truth. People may not want to reflect on their own lives to see where they need to change, repent, and face the truth. It is easier for them to project their brokenness and darkness onto others. When their shadow side is projected onto others, then they do not need to scrutinize and reflect on their own lives and see where they may be walking in error. Religions such as Christianity constantly call upon their members to reflect on their lives, to discover what is untrue in themselves, and to reform their lives – with God’s help.
As we have seen recently during the chaos in Washington, the word is powerful. A lie that is accepted by the naïve and uncritical can have the power to motivate them into mob violence. They may accept the lie wholeheartedly and be willing to act on their belief the lie is true. Needless to say, this causes chaos, suffering, and damage to the common good.
Why is it easy to promote falsehoods? Today’s technology has developed social media platforms that make it easy to express what is true or untrue. Social media platforms are neither good nor bad; they are neutral. Today, these platforms focus the news on individuals according to their online preferences. Unscrupulous people can use these powerful media, which are good in themself, to magnify and spread lies, conspiracy theories, and distortions of reality. But others can use social media to magnify the good and truth. Depending on the motivation of people, the media can be used as a positive or negative tool.
By accepting the lie either deliberately or out of unwillingness to discover and face the truth, a person denies the Christian gospel of Jesus who presents himself as the way, the truth, and the light. Some people may prefer to accept the falsehood of another, rather than to shape their lives according to the Christian gospel. They may be unwilling to hold the gospel as a standard or mirror of truth and as a guide for their behavior.
From our failure to face the truth about ourselves and our world, we allow a dark spirit to emerge from our hearts, and to gain control over ourselves and our world. In failing to face the truth, our hearts and world move toward darkness.