A lie is a conscious effort to deceive. Once a lie is born they have a reputation of maintaining a life of their own. Like an unpredictable grizzly bear they can be polite, indifferent, or harmful depending on their size, disposition, and character. To better understand the different levels of severity that apply to lies they are categorized as white, gray, or black. The increasing intensity of lies is comparable to the maturing of a bear cub into a full grown predator.
White lies start off like harmless fuzzy bear cubs. They are gentle and have no intention of causing harm or embarrassment to the object of their attention. In fact, a white lie is in reality a socially acceptable method of showing politeness by means of a tactful maneuver to avoid minor disagreeable situations. Telling your mother she looks as young as ever in order to make her feel better, meets the requirements of a white lie. The white lie is usually understood and accepted by all parties involved. However, like the bear cub, lies have a way of growing into a larger animal and losing some of their gentleness.
The second category the gray lie is the juvenile grizzly bear of deceptive speech. The intention of a gray lie is to deceive without malice or harm to the hearer. The juvenile grizzly acting like a ferocious adult charging its siblings is a form of play that has no vicious intent. Gray lies have no malicious intent, like the young bear’s play they are exaggerations and bluffs made in an attempt to benefit the liar without actually causing any harm to others. Examples that fall within the scope of gray lies include a child’s fib, an adult’s fish story, and a student’s excuse for losing his homework. As long as the liar benefits and there is no victim created, the deliberate deception falls within the scope of a gray lie.
Black lies like a vicious full grown grizzly will harm anyone who crosses their path. Black lies unlike white and gray lies, have a malicious intent and they are the handiwork of criminals. Con-artists and swindlers are masters at deception, and like the grizzly stalking its prey, they use their skills to benefit themselves at the expense of others. A person lying on a witness stand in order to escape punishment at the expense of their victim and a used car sale’s man who deliberately sells a defective car to a naïve customer are examples of black lies. The black lie is the hardest of all lies to detect. Like a deadly grizzly camouflaged in the shadows, black lies are disguised behind snippets of truth, waiting for the unwary to cross their path.
The use of deceptive communication constitutes a lie. The severity of a lie and the intent behind it are the standards by which lies are categorized as white, gray, or black. Once the truth has been altered by a lie, repercussions are created that gain in intensity until, like the mighty grizzly, they can destroy you.
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