Subject:
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Re: Customs question...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Sat, 17 Nov 2001 21:20:35 GMT
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Viewed:
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487 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Jason Spears writes:
> > > So your saying it's ok to sin a little bit? What if I steal only a little
> > > bit? Would that be ok? I don't think it is. Where do you draw the line?
Is it OK if you're starving and stealing food from someone who has more than
they need?
> But shouldn't we try to avoid lying when
> and where we can?
I should. I have made it a long-term life-philosophy. But not because of some
notion of right and wrong. I have two reasons. The first is that I want
people to know that when I say something, it is really how I understand it to
be. They can still think I'm wrong, but not lying. I value the results that
this decision has rendered for me over the past twenty years. The second is
that I'm not good at remembering little details and when you lie you have to
keep lying and remember to whom you have told which lie and come up with ways
to reconcile what one person has heard with what another has when they meet and
discuss what they know of you. WAAAAAY too much trouble in my book. If I just
say what I think and believe and understand, then I never have to deal with all
that book-keeping.
But beyond that, I don't see why _we_ _should_ avoid lying.
> For me, in my
> life, lying on a customs form isn't worth it. Telling my fiancee I like her
> haircut, even if I don't, is worth the "white lie". To each their own.
Sure, I agree, but my standards are just about opposite. My wife, while
sometimes not immediately happy to hear that I think that dress makes her look
fat, _is_ happy to know that when I say something I'm not just coddling her
weak emotional nature...or whatever it is that causes you folks to engage in
such "white lies."
> Everything is worth trying, you just might not suceed at everything you try.
> Look at recycling, a number of people take the effort to recycle their plastic
> and paper goods. But an even larger group of people don't bother. Those
> people who do, are helping the environment a little. They are trying. And • even
> if they don't save the planet they will feel better for at least trying.
This makes it look like what you really think is important, is their "feeling
better." If so, then people who feel good by not recycling are just fine too,
right?
Chris
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Customs question...
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| (...) No, I don't think all lies are equal. But shouldn't we try to avoid lying when and where we can? As I already said in a reply to Richard, the end result is that you, for yourself, have to decide what works for you in your life. What "Little (...) (23 years ago, 13-Nov-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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