When a False Statement is not a Lie

 

Back in our youth, each of us was prone to equate the statement of something that we knew to be untrue as a lie – and the person making it, a liar.

But as we grew older and (for some) more discerning in our use of language, the role of intent was recognized.  To lie is to state something is true when the maker knows that it is not.  Intention is the key to the definition.  Without it, the falsehood made stems from faulty information, flawed conclusions or beliefs that override facts.  They are errors, not lies.

To call someone a liar is a serious charge (excluding the minor white lies we all utter from time to time).  In today’s world, only the term “racist” is more incendiary.  And both are cast about with abandon.

Is Donald Trump a liar because he insists that he, not Joe Biden, won the 2020 election?  The Sensible Conservative readily agrees that this is not true.  So why does he repeatedly say it?  Because he believes what he wants to believe!  A cursory view of the ex-president’s personality and personal history makes obvious that he hates to lose and seems unable to admit defeat.  And that trait controls his view of reality.

Those who call the ex-president are either blinded by their bias and can not see the personality at play or see but are malevolent in their labeling.

And why do prominent media stars on the Right (Sean Hannity and fellow Fox headliner Tucker Carlson as examples) term the Conservatives with contrary views (e.g., Jan. 6 committee member Lynn Cheney or Georgia governor Brian Kemp) as liars because they view the results of the 2020 election as settled.  Is there not room for an alternative explanation that does not impugn one’s character?

Long ago – so it seems – when one believed that a foe was voicing falsehoods, one would prefer to believe that that person was mistaken.  And, even if intention was suspected, “liar” was not a slur to be uttered in polite company.  Discourse could continue.  Name-calling ends it.

Now, many of us simply shout and curse at others as the animosity deepens.