Lying Liars and the Lies They Tell

The Ten Commandments, well at least ten rules that people arbitrarily pick out of the Bible and call that. I am not going into the fact that the commonly used Ten Commandments is never called that in the Bible and a different set of ten are called the Ten Commandments. No, instead I am going to pick on a few ideas about them and specifically on "Do not Lie".

First off "Do Not Lie" is not even a commandment. The commandment is "Do not bear false witness against your neighbor." The idea is do not lie in court, or don't commit perjury. That is far different than do not lie. It is about falsely accusing your neighbor of wrong doings and getting them punished for it. Lying on the other hand is often favored in the Bible. Look at the story of Jacob and how he gained his inheritance. His punishment for lying, he became the father of Israel and all the Jews. Wow, that is rough. So lying is not even on the common list.

Second, the idea that we will be convicted by the Holy Spirit. Yes, any time you feel empathy your conscious speak up about how you wronged a fellow human being, then that is the Holy Spirit convicting you. Confusing empathy with the Holy Spirit seems to be a common thing for the Fundamentalist Christians that make this claim. This goes back to my post a few days ago. We are social animals, we need each other to survive. So having actual feelings for others around you, will help you survive and pass on your genes. Most of us just call this empathy. This again is how all major societies came up with the Golden Rule. Personally, I am a Secular Humanist and I live by the Platinum Rule, treat others as they want to be treated.

It is nice to think the wicked will get what's coming to them at some point, but that is just a fairy tale. The world is harsh and unfair at times, but it still doesn't care. It doesn't know how to care or what care means, it just is. Humans can care and know what it means. So we should look out for each other. We don't need an old book telling us what is right and wrong, just look into yourself and put yourself in the other person's situation. Empathy it isn't hard.

In one case of lying, I have never felt sorry or convicted for doing it. That is dealing with con men and scammers. I have a hobby where I will lead scammers down a path where they think I will pay them. Instead I waste their time and money and can keep them from real victims at least temporarily. These people would steal medicine money from a 90 year old. I never feel anything for how I treat them. I have heard the complaints of that is the only way they can feed themselves. This is utter bullshit, these people scam because they can make a lot of money doing it. Hope springs eternal and they profit off of it. So if lying is morally wrong and the Holy Spirit will convict me for it every time or else there is no Holy Spirit. Then there is no Holy Spirit. I also started this hobby while I was a Christian and I know several Christians that participate.