Little now surprises me about disgraced
cyclist Lance Armstrong. Finally owning up to the use of performance enhancing
drugs which he had denied for years, Armstrong was subsequently stripped of all
his seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport for life.
In the wake of the scandal, the United States
Anti-Doping Agency plans to conduct a wide ranging inquiry into the issue of
doping in the sport. According to a recent Guardian article, Armstrong will
co-operate with the investigation, ‘because of legal proceedings in the US’.
Travis Tygart, head of the anti-doping agency
told Reuters, "He is going for a deposition in the United States in
November where he is going to go under oath in a lawsuit and have to answer
questions and I think that he is now being forced essentially through that
process [to come clean] and that he is trying to gain an
advantage.............. It's a little late but we are still hopeful he will
come and answer everything we have to ask him under oath but until he decides to
do that, it is entirely premature to determine or speculate on any sort of
reduction of his life ban."
This week, Armstrong told the BBC that he
would: “testify with 100% transparency and honesty" if invited to the
inquiry.
Most commentators and cycling aficionados,
while keen to know the truth, will have one question: Can anything that Lance
Armstrong, a proven liar says, ever be believed?
Sadly for people who are serious serial
liars, the truth nearly always comes to the fore. Where the individuals involved
have celebrity status, the consequences career wise and personally are almost
always devastating.
Lying is however part of the human condition.
There is a continuum of lying which ranges from the mild but untrue statement,
to downright untruthfulness. Human beings lie to others, and according to
psychologists, even lie to themselves!
Why do people tell lies?
Some individuals lie for the purpose of
maintaining social contacts to hide their true feelings from others in order to
avoid insults or discord. Thus some commonplace phrases can have a double
meaning such as: ‘I value your opinion’....... ‘I forgot’..... ‘My phone was
off’.... ‘Your kids are sooo cute’... ‘I love your hair’.... ‘That was the best
meal I ever ate’..... ‘You look like you've lost weight’.
Writing on the website www.blifaloo.com, psychologist Robert
Feldman says: "We find that as soon as people feel that their self-esteem
is threatened, they immediately begin to lie at higher levels."
These ‘higher levels of lying’ include: lying
to save face; lying to shift blame and lying for personal gain.
Robert Feldman says that, ‘lying is a complex
phenomenon’. I disagree.
The Bible is clear about lying...it is sin.
The Ninth of the Ten Commandments is clear: "You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbour."
While the original Hebrew of the commandment
reflects a legal context, it also suggests a broader application to lying in
general. Lying is something all people should not do, particularly those who
claim to be Christians.
Sadly we all sin, and deserve punishment by
Almighty God who is holy and without sin. However, the Lord is a God of
justice, who is merciful and loving, providing a way of escape for all from the
consequences of their sin.
The Apostle John explained this great truth
in his Gospel:
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
These truths are just some of the good news
of the Gospel.
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