The Truth! - From a Certain Point of View!

Is it okay to lie?
A rather loaded question, and certainly good dinner time conversation because it really has more theories than answers, and no matter what anyone thinks it's just their opinion based on what they think or believe. Is it the truth? Who is really to say.
Now should you lie?
Lying has such negative connotations, try to simply tell the truth from a certain point of view. Be creative because you can justify just about anything if you really set your mind to it. Look at some of the bloggers out there, Left wingers think that all the worlds problems come from Right wingers(actual quote that comes up quite often "Just when you think the GOP couldn't get any slimier--), Right wingers think all the worlds problems come from Left wingers, and leads people to use such silly words like rant.

So who is telling the truth?

Let's explore the theories with these examples-

I think the Green Bay Packers are the best football team to WATCH in the NFL! Not only do they have players(Brett Favre! But not singling anyone out) and talent that are fun to watch, they have history. They are the only founding team to still be in their original city(Cardinals and Bears are technically older, but started in Chicago and Decatur, even though Green Bay for their first 75 years played a third of their home games in Milwaukee). Even the way the organization is set up they are an underdog to the other franchises, and they sell out everywhere they play, an intrasquad scrimmage, preseason games, and on the road, etc. They could have a neutral site game in South Dakota and it will sell out. Now is that the truth? The truth as I see it for the reasons explained. God help them, but there are people who actually like the Vikings(especially in South Dakota) that may disagree with that, and either give me their truth, or just say that what I said was my opinion.

Fictional example-
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ben at the time) was asked a direct question from Luke Skywalker "How did My Father Die?"
Now you can go back to your dinner time conversation about whether to lie or not in this situation. You could be brave and tell the complete truth(you would kind of expect that from a Jedi wouldn't you?), but remember Luke has been isolated from the goings on in the universe at this time.
"Your father was the chosen one to bring balance to the Force, but something went wrong and he turned to evil and he helped kill all the Jedi and your mother for that matter, and in order for that prophecy to come true, I need to train you as a Jedi so you can kill him and his master, and bring the Force back into balance." Now do you think that would have worked? Obi-Wan then did what you expect an exiled Jedi to do and tell the truth from his point of view. "A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine before he turned to evil, he betrayed and murdered your father!"
Pretty powerful if you think about it, it doesn't destroy the image Luke has of his father, and it preserves the good feeling Obi-Wan has about Anakin before he turned(Obi-Wan also doesn't have explain the fact that he almost killed his father). Luke eventually finds out the "real" truth and is pretty ticked! But gains perspective and basically learns on his own how to become a Jedi, and by not following in his fathers footsteps, uses the truth against him in their final battle in front of the Emperor. By not giving in to anger and hate(for the most part, turns out he's pretty sensitive about his sister), he becomes powerful enough to know that there is still good in is father, so when he defeats Darth Vader, he sacrifices himself in front of the Emperor so that the only one who can save him is Anakin. Luke could not have done that without knowing the "real" truth, but if he learned of all that at the time he asked the initial question, it may have been too much for the young lad to take, and would have gone crying back to his Uncle's moisture farm who at that very moment was being slaughtered by Imperial Stormtroopers.

Theological example -
This is a touchy area, but I feel obligated because I get so many hits from Google to this site from a post I wrote when Dr. Gene Scott passed away almost two years ago. Not because of him but that fact that his much younger wife(red flag!) Melissa had taken over the Church, and that Melissa had an AKA(FLARE!!) Barbi Bridges! Anyway I received many comments on that post(and still do) including this one from Gerald Krug:
"I know some of the insides of the ministry and as my daddy said to me,"Son,you can't live your whole life on B.S.", so tell me how did this ministry survive? Try by truth.

Yes, but who's truth! What is the truth and from who's point of view. Not I'm not going to say that Dr. Scott lied, and I'm not saying that Melissa is lying now. I find it refreshing that the very few sermons I've seen Melissa do, she has brought up the topic of sin. Go with what you know! Who better to preach about sin, and in turn who better to preach about forgiveness(if she's ever asked for it).
Like everyone else I have questions about Life, the universe and everything and when I first started on my task I was on the quest for the truth! And that's why I didn't want to go to a Church, because technically a Church is not based on truth, but on Faith. The quest then went from the "truth" to the quest for knowledge. Knowing things in turn helped me sort out falses more than finds truth, but that's a far better starting point than trying to sort out truths from so many points of view. Leading to the point of view that with knowledge comes wisdom. Not sure how well that has worked out for me, but it hasn't affected my sense of humor!
So from that and as a thank you to Gerald for commenting, and to all who are so fascinated with Melissa Scott, I say this. I don't know if Dr. Scott was truthful, but I do think he was knowledgeable, and had a pretty good idea what the falses were.
So in conclusion(finally), if you think someone is lying to you, don't call them a liar. Don't call them a truthful person from a certain point of view. Make them squirm, get as much knowledge as you can, and find out what the falses are(left & right wingers please take note!), and go from there.
Just look what gaining knowledge did for Luke Skywalker, the universe is now a much better place!

Until next time,
PAC

The Truth Continued!

One little thing I didn't to mention in my post entitled "The Truth From a Certain Point of View" the other day, Truth in advertising! Yes, something that might actually make truth an oxymoron. In fairness some companies are not making such bold claims, they are just generating attention to their product so that we the little people -- I mean buying public will consider their product. Using such techniques as sex as an example.
Being cool is another one, you see them in competitive ads like Coke vs. Pepsi, and Miller Lite vs. Bud Light(feel free to add any foreign ads that I am not familiar with). They kind of force you to defend the one you like better. I think Coke is a superior product, but check my previous post on what making such a claim really means.
Then there is Sex. Sex, Sex, SEX!!!
Yes when the truth can't get the audience or sales of the product you want, you can always rely on sex.
But get this, the Government is getting involved. Well not the U.S. Government(give them time), but in the United Kingdom they have a little gang called the Committee of Advertising Practice. If the sound of their name isn't scary, you can probably imgine from such a name that they probably don't have a sense of humor. The committee has rejected an ad by the Lambrini drink company because it depicted women flirting with a man who was deemed too attractive! I find this hard to believe for a couple reasons, first since I wasn't there where did they find such a guy, and two how can anybody be too attractive, because who is to say.
The committee didn't stop there they declared!
We would advise that the man in the picture should be unattractive overweight, middle-aged, balding etc.
I can see the reaction of the Lambrini executives right now! "You're right, what were we thinking, you guys are so smart, you should have our jobs instead!" I think not!
Can you imagine if that committee made that declaration here in the states! Beer commercials would practically go away, Overstock.com would actually have to say what they sell on their site, and the guy in the Tag body spray commercials would have to be attacked by unattractive - overweight, middle-aged, balding women(which seems to be happening to me when I use the product).
You might be thinking to yourself right now(maybe), "So what your saying is, you would trade "Truth" for "freedom"?
I might respond, "Maybe?", Truth as I have already stated is subject to so many points of view, but then again so does freedom, so much so I fear that truth may have better odds of existing than freedom, especially since everybody believes they are telling the truth, and most people seem to be willing to trade "Freedom" for "Security". But that's a subject for another discussion, and since no one is telling me what I should do tomorrow, freedom lives!
I would probably reply with what I yacked about the other day, and that would be gain knowledge about the products and while I may not find the truth, I will probably figure out what is false. I will probably not be attacked by women(or men) trying Tag body spray(one should not need spray for that).
Experience plays a factor too. Growing up there was a product call Zip shoes, which suggested that if you wore those shoes you would Zip along, and jump all over the place. Imagine my surprise when I landed in the middle of a bush in our front yard with my first few steps. It was also the last time I had Blue shoes!
I do believe however those advertisers should try to be more truthful, or as Dr. Gene Scott "taught" they should act more truthful-ly (devout followers should get that!). I would like to see just one (ONE) home pregnancy company instead of showing some couple all gleeful when they find out they are expecting, have one freaked out chick just go nuts when she finds out she's been knocked up! I may buy one for the hell of it if a company did that, I may just knock a lady up for such a product(That's a joke!).
In conclusion: My advice to the Committee of Advertising Practice, this isn't Crunchy Frog they are putting out. Have a Lambrini drink with some attractive people, and enjoy life for a change. It may not be the truth, it may not be what we wish were true, but no can really say it's false!
Until next time,
PAC