Saint Augustine on lying

Saint Augustine analyzed the concept “lie” in all its aspects taking into the consideration intention of lying, moral side of liar, his will and circumstances which provoked lying. Without doubt, one can observe that philosopher indicated that strong will can prevent us from lying. Will is the possibility to make one's own decision, to choose one's own actions, to determine what is good and what is evil. 

Saint Augustine affirmed that it would be unmoral to lie in any case, even if you want to rescue another life or to save one's own life. As we see he was not the supporter of lying. He supposed that the action with an evil moral object is never justified in any case.

Saint Augustine distinguished such types of lying: 

1. lies in religion
2. lies that only damage and benefit nobody
3. lies that damage other people and benefit somebody
4. lies told for the delight of lying
5. lies told to satisfy others
6. lies that are harmful to nobody and that benefit someone
7. lies which are not harmful that save someone's life
8. lies that damage nobody and that save someone's “chastity”

Saint Augustine supposed that jokes or mistakes are not lying because when we listened to jokes we feel that the tone of voice and mood of joker render that his intention is to make us laugh but not to deceit us. The philosopher emphasized the importance of intention of the speaker and told that even truth thought false by the speaker is a lie.

Saint Augustine concludes that it would not be moral to lie in any circumstance, not even to save an innocent life, and not even to save one’s self from rape. Even dire circumstances do not justify lying. In terms of the three fonts of morality, i.e. intention, moral object and circumstances, Saint Augustine says that an evil act is never justified by any circumstance.

A good intention does not make behavior that is intrinsically disordered, such as lying and calumny, good or just. He states that intrinsically disordered acts (or evil acts) cannot be justified by any intention. 

Saint Augustine stated that free will existed and people can choose to choose good (truth, sincerity) or to choose evil (lie). Man can choose a life of good will himself. According to Saint Augustine all kinds of lies are sinful in its entity and ruin moral principles of behaviour. Augustine claimed that a lie should never be told for any man's civil life (at the earth), since the value of such is one's everlasting (at the paradise) life. 

Truth is what stands the test of experience ... Albert Einstein

Always stand for what is right even if it means you are standing alone

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A lie consists in speaking a falsehood and even without the intention of deceiving, lying is a wrong thing. Many persons take the position that it would be impossible to determine whether a lie is morally evil without knowing the intention and the circumstances, i.e the totality of the foreseeable good and bad consequences. This position is rejected as an evil moral object makes an act immoral, regardless of intention or circumstances, since lying is an evil and evil acts are always immoral, regardless of intention or circumstances.

Epidemic of dishonesty

Micheal Bloomberg served as mayor of New York City for three consecutive terms beginning in 2002. Bloomberg has an estimated net worth of $53.4 billion, making him the 11th richest person in the world. "Americans are facing an "epidemic of dishonesty" in Washington." Media mogul, philanthropist and former New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg warned in his speech at Texas' Rice University that "an endless barrage of lies" in national politics poses a dire threat to U.S. democracy.

• If you don't know what you're going to do for the rest of your life, don't worry about it. Leave that to your parents! 
• The concept of honor has taken on different meanings through the ages: chivalry, chastity, courage, strength. And when divorced from morality, or attached to prejudice, honor has been used to justify murder, and repression, and deceit. 
• The words ‘honor’ and ‘honest’ are two sides of the same coin. To be honorable, you must be honest. And that means speaking honestly, and acting honestly, even when it requires you to admit wrongdoing and suffer the consequences. The commitment to honesty is also a patriotic responsibility.
• One of the first things children learn about American history is the story of George Washington and the fallen cherry tree.  ‘I cannot tell a lie,’ young George tells his father. ‘I cut it down.’ The cherry tree legend has endured because it's about what what we value in our leaders: honesty. 
• We’ve always lionized our two greatest presidents -- George Washington and Abraham Lincoln -- not only for their accomplishments, but also for their honesty. Today when we look at the city that bears Washington's name, it's hard not to wonder: What the hell happened?
• People are entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts. 
• Those in politics routinely dismiss any inconvenient information, no matter how factual, as fake and they routinely say things that are false. 
• The plain truth about America -- the freedom, opportunity, and prosperity. 
• The more communists had access to real news, the more they would demand freedom.
• Today many of those at the highest levels of power see the plain truth as a threat. They fear it. They deny it. And they attack it. And we are in the midst of an epidemic of dishonesty, and an endless barrage of lies.
• Free societies depend on citizens who recognize that deceit in government isn’t something to shrug your shoulders at. 
• When elected officials speak as though they are above the truth, they will act as though they are above the law. And when we tolerate dishonesty, we get criminality. It's in the form of corruption or abuse of power or both. Left unchecked, these abuses erodes the institutions that preserve and protect our rights and freedoms and open the door to tyranny and fascism.
• There’s always been deceitful politicians and dishonest politicians in both parties. But now, there is now more tolerance for dishonesty in politics. The only thing more dangerous than dishonest politicians who have no respect for the law, is a chorus of enablers who defend their every lie.
• The Honor Code doesn’t require you to be honest but also requires you to say something if you saw others acting dishonestly. If we want elected officials to be honest, we have to hold them accountable when they are not -- or else suffer the consequences. [Bloomberg was a high profile critic of Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign, branding the future president as a “con” and “demagogue."]
• Honest people can disagree. That's what democracy is all about! But productive debate requires an acceptance of basic reality.
• If censorship solved problems, today we’d all be part of the old USSR.
• It's always good to be skeptical and ask questions. But we must be willing to place a certain amount of trust in the integrity of scientists. If you aren’t willing to do that, don't get on an airplane, don't use a cell phone or microwave, don't get treated in a hospital. Scientific discovery permeates practically every aspect of our lives, except our political debates.
• The dishonesty in Washington is about lack of good jobs in many communities, to the prevalence of gun violence, to the threats to the economy and threats to the environment -- because too many political leaders are being dishonest about facts and data, and too many people are letting them get away with it. [The Washington Post has documented more than 3,000 false or misleading statements made by Trump since he took office in January 2017]
• How did we get here? How did we go from a president who could not tell a lie to politicians who can not tell the truth?  From a George Washington who embodied honesty, to a Washington, D.C. defined by deceit?
• It’s popular to blame social media for spreading false information. The problem is the public's willingness and eagerness, to believe anything that paints the other side in a bad light. That's extreme partisanship, fueling and excusing dishonesty.
• Extreme partisanship is like an infectious disease that cripples the mind. It blocks us from understanding the other side.  It blinds us from seeing the strengths in their ideas and the weaknesses of our own. And it leads us to defend or excuse lies and unethical actions when our own side commits them.
• But governing is not a game.
• When people see the world as a battle between left and right, they become more loyal to their tribe than to our country. When power, not progress, becomes the object of the battle, truth and honesty become the first casualties.
• Honesty leads to trust and trust leads to freedom. If we aren't honest with one another, we don't trust one another, then we place limits on what we ourselves can do, and what we can do together as a country. It's a formula for gridlock and national decline. It doesn't have to be that way.
• When I was in city government, I didn't care which party proposed an idea -- and I never once asked someone his or her party affiliation during a job interview, or who they voted for. As a result, we had a dream team of Democrats, Republicans, and independents.  That diversity made our debates sharper, our policies smarter, and our government better.
• In Washington today, partisanship is everything and the dishonesty it produces is one of the greatest challenges that the present young generation will have to confront.
• Partisanship is not a new problem. George Washington warned against it as the ‘worst enemy’ of democracy, a precursor to tyranny. There is now unrestrained, rabid partisanship everywhere we look.
• Fifty years ago, most parents didn't care whether their children married a member of another political party, but they didn't want them marrying outside their race or religion, or inside their gender. The percentage of parents who don't want their children marrying outside of their political party has doubled and the more people segregate themselves by party, the harder it becomes to understand the other side.
• The country is more divided now than ever before. An era during which “alternative facts” and “post-truth” have entered the nation’s vocabulary, and like-minded groups huddle together, drowning out the opinions of others and rejecting scientific and other evidence that contradicts their world views.
• Honesty matters. And everyone must be held accountable for being honest. So as you go out into the world, do what honesty requires.
• No one, nor either party, has a monopoly on good ideas. Judge events based on what happened, not who did it.  Hold yourself and our leaders to the highest standards of ethics and morality.  Respect the knowledge of scientists. Follow the data, wherever it leads. Listen to people you disagree with -- without trying to censor them or shout over them. And have the courage to say things that your own side does not want to hear.
• It will be up to you to decide how to live your life and to follow your own honor code.

Mike Bloomberg's speech at Rice University on May 12, 2018

Today in India, all the traits pointed out by Bloomberg are in gigantic proportions but what surprises is its resilience to survive without collapsing. Truth and facts are hard to spot. Politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen and even common man practices dishonesty and tell lies for making money and abuse society & laws with impunity. Justice delivery system is at its worst with very low conviction rate, unaffordable for majority of Indians, drifted away from common man -- serving only rich and well connected. No ordinary citizen can think of approaching courts for grievance redress. This is not democracy in any sense. The only sign of existence of some kind of democracy in India is that its general elections often unseats ruling party and once in a while anti-establishment judgments pronounced by courts.

Honesty in India

Honesty is defined as 'fairness and straightforwardness of conduct' and 'steadfast adherence to the facts'.
Tact is defined as 'the ability to do or say things without offending or upsetting other people'.
Corruption  is defined as dishonest or illegal behavior especially by powerful people, inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means (as bribery) or departure from the original or from what is pure or correct.

In the present day world honesty is virtually despised and such person gets socially isolated while tact is well appreciated. Tact involves seemingly honest and telling white lies which are as bad as lies. In fact there is no such thing as 'white lies'. What ever is not truth, is a lie only.

In the context of black money and demonetization, the reality is that today, every Indian talks bad about black money and tax evasion but there is no Indian who does not evade taxes and deal with black money. Ironically, every Indian is corrupt with reference to its true meaning. Our constitution and laws differentiate between 'guilty' and 'not guilty' and punishments are same for less guilty or more guilty.

All these Modi adventures are aimed at political supremacy of his party in winning elections and of course dumping money into Gujarat and for Jaitley to reduce budget deficit to please world bank and international credit rating agencies but definitely have little concern for the rights and privileges of common man on street and peasant in the fields.

Present day politicians (read Modi) talking about honesty, truth, morality etc is unbearable. They should confine to at best to talk about law adherence and law compliance. Nothing more.

Honesty is incompatible with amassing a large fortune - Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi's seven deadly sins are: Wealth without work; Pleasure without conscience; 

Knowledge without character; Commerce without morality; Science without humanity; 

Politics without principles; Worship without sacrifice.