Lies, Untruths and Youth

Pilate washes his hands to show that he was not responsible for the execution of Jesus and reluctantly sends him to his death.

YS Team

Over 2,000 years ago when Jesus Christ was being tried for heresy in a Roman court, after hearing extensive and unending arguments, the judge, Pontius Pilate, is stated to have  asked “What is truth?” and walked away after washing his hands.

That phrase “What is truth?” has echoed down the centuries, without an answer that is credible.  Sages and men of wisdom have given their various answers.  Linguists, semanticists and learned teachers have struggled with the question but no definition was totally convincing.

We are interested, here, on what truth should mean to youth and not try to solve a question that never has been answered.  Let’s posit that ‘lie’ is the opposite of ‘truth’ (can you argue with that?) and go on from there A young person’s life has become so complicated what with extended studies, parents’ high ambitions for him, competitive times and relationships, that he is forced to lie to maintain his esteem in the eyes of his peers.  He can lay claims to fictitious achievements to maintain his pride or he may boast of his family’s prosperity and place in society.  These are harmless pretensions which, in most cases, disappear as a youth enters early maturity.  But some carry this habit into their adult lives in interactions with employers, co-workers, friends, distant family members, and others.

This is not something that is forced on one by peer pressure, but an urge to better our image at the cost of untruths even if it hurts others.  What we did in our early years was also untrue, but it did not hurt anyone and did not gain us anything.  All it did was cater to our false sense of self-esteem.  However, it is the base from which we develop into adults who tell lies for profit or to build self-respect and thus become deliberate liars.  And this is wrong and may result in much distress and misery to us and ours.

But don’t despair.  Even in the early adult stage it is possible that the lies (untruths) we indulge in are harmless to both ourselves and others; but we cannot be sure.  The danger is that it could become a habit in later life, especially if some of our lies result in gain to us.  We become greedy and deliberately persist in our lies.  You may have come across some people who are very rich but not respected; who are very intelligent but are not liked; who are generally well-spoken and polite and even helpful but leave one with misgivings that they are not genuine—all due to their efforts to bolster their ego, self-confidence or to create a favorable impression on others through lies.

This doesn’t have to happen to us if only we are a little more careful in our pre-adult years.  If, at this time, we stop and think: is this lie really necessary? Just a little thought; that’s all it takes.  It won’t answer Pilate’s question, but it will certainly lead to a happier adult life for you.