If someone would be kind enough to grade my SAT essay for me, I would be extremely grateful.
Is deception ever justified?
Ever since we were little kids, grown-ups have been repeating the parable, “Honesty is the best policy.” There have been countless times where my parents chastised me for lying to them or my brothers stuffed their dirty laundry in my mouth when I fibbed about who broke the Sega Mega. So from a young age, I have been taught to be unfailingly honest in every aspect of my life because the truth is always the best. In fact, it was something I prided myself on.
To me, lying was a horrible sin, regardless of whether it had been used to soften the blow or protect someone from getting hurt. Aren’t you just hurting them even more once they find out you lied to them? It was just plain wrong, there are no grey areas when it comes to telling the truth.
However, many people saw me as harsh and extremely rude and disliked making conversation with me. I didn’t understand that there are some situations where it is better to be more considerate of people’s emotional state and lie to them. I always thought that I was being kind by telling the truth and not hiding anything, but I was wrong. I slowly lost my friends one by one because I was too stubborn to change my ideals.
But I learnt my lesson when the only friend I had remaining finally exploded and gave me a taste of my own medicine, I had an essay on AP World History which was worth a considerable portion of my final grade. I had worked very hard on it by doing extensive research and staying up late writing and re-writing it because I desperately wanted to impress my favorite teacher so when I meekly asked for my friend’s unbiased opinion on my essay. She completely shot me down.
I was devastated. After all, I had worked so hard on it. She did compliment me on my excellent technique but the scathing critique was just too much to bear and I found myself panicking about what to do because the paper was due the next day! My friend is usually a very sweet and placid person so I was very surprised by her derisive comments about my essay. When I asked her about it, she calmly told me that I shouldn’t be so offended, because isn’t this what I do to everyone who asks for my opinion?
That’s when I realized that yes, lying is a sin but it is justified only when you use it to soothe someone or to protect them. Because knowingly hurting someone’s feeling under the false impression that it is somehow justified because at least you told the truth is a worse sin than lying. I now know that telling the truth is good, but not all the time.
So is deception ever justified? I suppose it depends on the situation, the person and their own point of view.
Thanks. 