It's The Truth, Americans Conflicted About Lying

Lying is part of human nature. On average, we tell one to two lies a day. We all lie. Some do it more often than others. We even do it to ourselves on occasion. There are many ways to tell a lie. And sometimes we may not even intend to lie, it just happens. Lying is inevitable. It happens whether we like it or not. But it is up to us whether we let it drastically influence our lives. In The Ways We Lie by Stephanie Ericsson, the author discusses the different types of lies we encounter and tell in our daily lives.

Did you know everyone has lied once in their life many people feel lying is a a bad thing to do. Lying is okay sometimes like lies to protect others,lies to get out of a situations,and lies to protect yourself.

In the article “It’s the truth: Americans Conflicted About Lying” the author believes that lying is only justified if it doesn’t hurt anyone. The author supports his claim by stating “Apparently white lies are acceptable, even necessary, part of many lives-even though we dislike the idea of lying.” This supports his claim by saying that lying is sometimes necessary. Also, the article states that 65 percent of Americans voted that it was ok to lie sometimes. This also helps his claim by stating that people will lie to protect each other or to not cause harm. The author also supports his claim by stating “Not only is lying justified, It is sometimes a moral duty.” (Randy Cohen) This also supports the claim by saying sometimes you have to lie

Lying is evolving into normalcy. Since there are several types of lying, there are loopholes and ways that people defend themselves for telling untruths. For example, we tell lies in order to evade trouble or consequences but tell ourselves that it is better or easier that way. Ericsson claims, “We lie. We all do. We exaggerate, we minimize,

I agree with the fact that lying is NOT okay. BUT, its also okay in certain situations. Most adults lie to their children about multiple things such as: believing there is a Santa, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, etc. Some adults Some children think what they are being told is true

Lying can save you in severe situations such as life or death. Elie lied about his age and said he was eighteen instead of fifteen. “‘Your age?’ he asked, perhaps trying to sound paternal. ‘I'm eighteen.’ My voice was trembling.” (Wiesel 31). Not telling exact information to strangers about yourself can prevent bad things from happening. He told the doctor he was sick so he didn’t have to get his crown taken. His crown could buy him an extra ration of bread and soup, so he decided it’d be smart to keep it. He said he was a farmer because it could save him from being killed immediately. Lying is one of many ways that can help people survive in certain situations.

As we all know, lying is a constant part of many people’s lives, whether they realize it or not. Now and then, we’ve all lied to our parents about our homework being completed. (Even though your homework is not done because playing video games or texting your friends is more interesting.) Honestly, lot’s of us have told a lot of white lies or maybe even a whopper of a lie, and we all have varied views on when we should or shouldn 't lie. Such as Brad Blanton, an author of a book about lying and the article, “Honestly, Tell the Truth” who believes in the concept of radical honesty: telling the truth at all times. (excluding a matter of life or death) By cutting out the white lies we tell throughout the course of our lives, there will be less lies to, as Blanton states “unnecessarily complicate our lives.” I agree with Blanton and his opinion that we honestly need to tell the truth and that if we cut out most if the lies we tell, our lives will be free of the aftermath of a lie: damaged relationships and unnecessary amounts of stress. I believe that lying is burdening to the liar who usually fights a losing battle, for he will most likely be found out. I also believe that if we excessively lie, this pattern will become a habit and a problem that will be hard to get rid of in the future. I consider lying to be harmful and damaging to relationships and to negatively affect your character and lower your moral standards. Everyone has lied occasionally, if not frequently, but if

There is no correct way to consider lying morally wrong or right, regardless of the severity. Stephanie Ericsson uses powerful metaphors and personal experiences in “The Ways We Lie” to justify the use of our everyday fibs. Using these types of techniques pull her readers in and broaden their judgement without being too bias or vague. Ericsson begins by explaining how she told the bank that her deposit was in the mail even though she hadn't even written out the check yet (120). This already has more than half of the readers feeling relative to her on account of her use of ethos.

The controversy over the topic of whether lying is sometimes, always, or never justified is complete nonsense. To say it is always or never acceptable would mean you’re not thinking about the situations in which we lie thoroughly. Simply put, lying can be sometimes acceptable when it brings good intentions.

In the first article from NBC, it talks about lying being used to protect relationships. For example, instead of telling your partner you disagree with what they said and start and argument, you’d keep quiet to avoid fighting and hurt feelings. Also, in Ballinger’s article, it explains how most lies should be shut out except for ones used

Lying to protect someone or their feelings is sometimes justified, while the other types of lies are not. In the article, “It’s the Truth: Americans Conflicted About Lying” by Life on NBCNEWS.com, a noted ethics columnist, Randy

As a general articulation, there is very little contention that would emerge when one expresses that lying is wrong. However, when proffered theoretical circumstances start to crawl further into different circumstances, people will start to dodge and legitimize why lying would be satisfactory in specific circumstances.

I feel that telling lies is not acceptable for the following reasons. Lying is not the right thing to do in a bad situation. If someone is talking behind your back, you would want someone to tell you what they are saying. If that person lies to you, you think of a different perspective then of what the situation actually is. If you confront the person who’s talking behind your back and it turns out to be a different story, the situation is going to get worse because that person who told you about the

To begin, many people believe that lying is unjustified, like German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Although, people agree with this statement, others may disagree. However, some people believe that “…lying is stressful and hurts relationships.” (Ballinger 5). This proves that lying is unjustified because if you chose to tell the truth it wouldn’t be stressful; and also it wouldn’t hurt relationships.

According to Robert Braul “Every lie is two lies, the lie we tell others and the lie we tell ourselves to justify it.” So, is it okay to tell white lies? Do you tell white lies for your own sake? Why do you lie even though you know that no matter how big or small your lie is, it is still considered as immoral? Well, according to an article entitled “Tell White Lies (Occasionally)” there are 3 possible reasons why people lie and I agree with the author. I agree with Donald W. McCullough that it is okay to tell white lies when we know that it isn’t the right time, place, and way to tell the truth that sometimes we lie to protect ourselves and not to protect other people, and that we should be careful with the words we say.