by A.T. Meininger

Created on: October 31, 2009

"Should read, 'credibility is the best policy." said Anton LaVey, philosopher and founder of the Church of Satan. I came upon this quote a few months back and have had some time to ponder it. Ideally, honesty is something that we should strive for. However, the world as it is currently, probably isn't ready for such a bold, simple and obvious idea. Allow me to demonstrate.

Let's pretend we have a couple that start off in a relationship. The woman will act disinterested when she is interested. The man will take that disinterest and take that as disinterest. The woman will lose the man and wonder why. Should it not be obvious she lost him herself? Why then, such a game? Honesty is something that she could have used-that would be the logical conclusion. But if she acted completely interested, the man would have been scared off. Complete honesty isn't as much of a virtue as partial honesty in the first few dates of a relationship. It's a power struggle, but it definitely says something about the way people interact that they're not ready to be honest. I don't fault them for that, but it does say that honesty has its limitations.

Another example would be the criminal justice system. If a police officer asks "what did you do" and you respond honestly (and have committed a crime), you will be arrested. Outright lying to the cop will get you arrested if they have evidence against you and is an offense completely in and of itself. The goal is to say "I want a lawyer" and obfuscate the process of unearthing the truth. Being honest can get you into trouble.

I believe the reason why honesty isn't more common is because of childhood experiences that limit honesty. Everyone at one point was a child. To some extent, being shifty, or lying outright, or re-interpreting the truth, or telling a half-truth benefits children who know how to conceal their actions and intentions. When a mother yells out "Who broke my vase?" the fear of punishment (hitting, losing privileges, sitting in the corner, of losing desert) will be a sufficient reason for a child to sidestep the truth. Fear can make humans act irrationally and dishonestly. Because saying that 'my sister did it' gets the child off the hook at a given moment, it can prove a short-term gain and exemption from punishment. After the sister becomes old enough to know that she's being framed, the child's credibility will go down, due to framing his sister, hence his reputation will suffer. Credibility is the best policy.

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