Denial of the truth is the greatest form of a lie

Do they ever grow tired of living a lie? And if they don’t, then why the heck not?

And if they do, then why won’t they stop?

To answer the first question of why some people don’t grow tired of living a lie or telling lies, we must acknowledge that most people first mislead themselves all day long. We tell ourselves that we’re smarter and better looking than we are. That we’ll be happy when we get that raise, lose the weight, get the car, the house, the boat. That we’re too old for this or that, or don’t have enough time, or that those jeans don’t make your butt look that big.

Ironically, the truth is that we lie to avoid what feels like more significant and more unpleasant truths – and we’re afraid of what others would think of us otherwise. We don’t want to admit what is true because then we’d have no choice but to change.

So we lie to ourselves. And to one another.

This can become exhausting. You tell a lie, and then need to tell an additional lie to cover for the original lie you told. Then you have to keep remembering all that you lied about. Before long, your current story conflicts with your previously told stories, which then leads to more lies to cover up the old lies, just so that your bull**** story makes sense.

Before long, the lies become your reality. In the words of Vladimir Lenin, “A lie told often enough becomes the truth.” And this is modern-day America.

For example, you can say, “Black Lives Matter,” but you can’t say, “all black lives matter.” And certainly, God forbid, that anyone says, “all lives matter,” especially the unborn, since we’re told that “abortions are safer than the extraction of wisdom teeth.” But these are lies, nonetheless — damn lies.

They tells us that “Medicare for All” is needed in order to eliminate private insurance and make health care affordable (free). That there should also be free tuition, housing and income, as well as cancellation of student loan debt, reparations for African-Americans, reparations for same-sex couples and free childcare for everyone, including illegal immigrants.

We’re told we could pay for all of this “free” stuff with a “wealth tax.” Another lie. The truth is, even if you taxed every worker earning $50,000 a year at a 100% tax rate, it still wouldn’t be enough to pay for it all – the “free” stuff, that is.

They tell us someone can be a man or woman even if that is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. That the Palestinian war on Israel is morally equivalent to the struggle for civil rights in the United States. That Russia is more of a threat to our national security than Iran or China. More lies.

We’re told the key to safer communities is more gun control, even though suicide accounts for nearly two-thirds of all gun deaths, and the highest rates of gun violence occur in those areas where the gun control laws are the strictest.

They tell us that the greatest economy in American history, which has been built during the Trump-Pence administration, was actually created under the Obama- Biden administration, even though the economic recovery under Obama- Biden was the slowest since the Great Depression.

We’re told that universal, mass mailin voting is necessary so that every vote will be counted, and voters won’t have to choose between health concerns and their right to vote. But even the New York Times said nearly one million mail-in votes this year were at a “high-risk” of never being counted – at all – either the ballots were not filled out properly, or didn’t get returned on time.

We could go on and on about the lies our elected officials have told us for years in every city and every state across the country – and that continues today.

But if lying is so exhausting, then what’s the answer to the question of what keeps those who lie going? Are they in denial of the truth? Or do they think the rest of us aren’t smart enough to put it all together?

Maybe it’s a little bit of both? Perhaps it’s also, as Winston Churchill once said, “The truth is heavy, therefore few care to carry it.”

But whatever the answer might be to the question, the Bible says none of us can be free if we’re willing to live a lie, or remain silent, otherwise.

As Jesus said, “The truth will set you free!” (John 8:32).

Louis R. Avallone is a Shreveport businessman, attorney and author of “Bright Spots, Big Country, What Makes America Great.” He is also a former aide to U.S. Representative Jim McCrery and editor of The Caddo Republican. His columns have appeared regularly in 318 Forum since 2007. Follow him on Facebook, on Twitter @louisravallone or by e-mail at louisavallone@mac.com, and on American Ground Radio at 101.7FM and 710 AM, weeknights from 6 - 7 p.m., and streaming live on keelnews.com.