Question 4
QUESTION: Do you go through a period of deep resentment for being lied to? I know I did, and still do from time to time. -Sidfaiwu
ANSWER: I honestly do not feel that I was knowingly lied to. I do, however, feel anger at my own delusion and apparently inability to see through the fallacies of that belief system. I really have no right to be angry with anyone but myself. –deletedsoul
April 11th, 2007 at 9:56 am
Interesting. But weren’t you too young to know any better since you were raised within the religion? Certainly you cannot blame your child-self. I would agree if your time as an evangelical was only in your adulthood, but since it wasn’t, you shouldn’t fully blame yourself.
Also, please don’t misunderstand me. I don’t think any particular person lied to me. I’m sure they believed what they taught me. The religion, itself is the lie.
April 11th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
sifdaiwu, that’s an interesting perspective, and one that’s completely alien to me.
I don’t think you can “lie” in any way other than deliberately, and just about every dictionary that i’ve ever consulted on the topic agrees with this: To be a lie, the teller must believe (or suspect) that what they say is false, and there must be an intent to deceive or mislead, or at least an expectation that the hearer will believe it.
April 12th, 2007 at 8:11 am
Correct, Pseudonym. That is why I don’t think that I was lied to by anyone. I do, however believe I was told a lie (noun form).
Suppose I told gasmonso that Kurt Vonnegut is alive and well (tragically, he died recently D:). Then gasmonso, having missed that bit of news then tells you that Kurt Vonnegut is alive and well. You have been told a lie, even if gasmonso did not lie to you.
That example illustrates what I am talking about. My family and others unknowingly passed on a lie to me. Thus I was lied to, but not by the people who taught me.
April 12th, 2007 at 10:23 am
Well shit.
Granted there is a fair bit of misinformation out there sid, but you can’t say the intention of the source was concious of the reaction. Anger is just another emotion bent on controlling and exaggerating your true feelings.
Sure, I could be angry with my parents and peers for the “lies” I’ve been told. History lessons are full of these “lies”, but country’s still teach their own twisted version of the truth because they feel reality may harm you.
I dunno man, relativity right? We all grow up and have to choose.
April 12th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Hey Shaze,
Nope, I don’t have much anger left. I got most of that out in my early twenties. I was just curious if anyone else had to purge similar demons. I guess I’m in a minority on this one. Perhaps it’s my Irish genes; anger occurred too easily ;)