Just a little white lie. This is something we often tell ourselves to justify the lies we tell and make ourselves feel good for deceiving others. This way, we might even be open to giving ourselves reasons and excuses why telling the lie was important.
And for the lie of omission, that can be one of the grandest ways of sabotage. Telling half-truths and partial stories, letting people know only what they need to know just to make them see the picture that you want for them. That’s how it can be, and that’s how bad it is. And what makes it worse is that, many times, a lie of omission doesn’t just involve telling half-truths, it can be simply choosing not to say anything.
It’s just like when you break one of your mom’s favorite plates, but then get rid of the evidence. No face, no case. And because the plate is not used regularly, she might never really figure it out. So, you say nothing. You know the plate is gone, but you say nothing, allowing her to think it still exists. And when she finally wants to use it, you’d watch her search around for it, turning the house upside down for the plate. And still, you’d say nothing. Even helped her look for the plate that no longer exists.
And soon enough, she’d come to the conclusion that the plate is lost. She probably thinks she misplaced it or kept it somewhere else and forgot all about it. And you allow her to think that. You know the truth, but you don’t bother confessing it. So, you let her keep thinking it’s lost. And unless she outrightly asks you where the plate is, you might never get to outrightly lie to her. But as long as you keep quiet about the truth, refusing to speak up, then you’re committing a lie of omission.
There could be reasons for such lies. A father could choose not to tell his kids that he lost his job just so they don’t have to worry about their fate. A sister could choose not to tell her siblings about her ill health, just so they don’t postpone their fun trip. And on and on it goes, there will always be a reason to tell lies, and there will always be a reason to lie by omission. In the end, what matters the most is what we ourselves choose to do. The reason we give ourselves, the reason we choose to believe in ourselves. That’s what makes all the difference.
One person I know who does this a lot is the fictional character Raymond Reddington. If you’re a fan of The Blacklist TV show, then you’d know him. That man rarely says everything, he keeps so many things to himself, and he’ll on tell you what you need to know to get you to do the very things he wants you to do. And when you think he has finally told you everything, when you think you’ve pried the truth from him, you find out that there’s still more.
I guess there are two sides to this. There will always be ethical concerns. People will always see the need to tell others only what they need to know. Just like when outsiders start getting a bit too curious about private matters, you tell them the truth, but you don’t tell them everything because it’s not really their business. And some people will always see the need to lie to others.
At this point, everything will always be on a need-to-know basis.
Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below, I would love to know what you’re thinking. Till we meet in the next post.
This post is inspired by the first topic of this week which is A Lie Of Omission. Feel free to try it out.
N.B: All images used in this post are mine. The thumbnail was designed using Canva.
