Politics and Lies

Someone once asked, “How do you know when a politician is lying?” The answer was “When his lips are moving.” Sadly, this observation is true in many cases. Since it is the election season, many candidates for office in this great country, including the presidency, will resort to outright lies in an attempt to be elected? What is almost as bad is the fact that there are so many voters who will believe the lies the politicians tell. A Biblical proverb states, “A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue” (Prov. 17:4). When any nation departs from the Lord and His Word of truth, they inevitably believe liars and their lies. To reject truth is to accept lies.

The father of lies is the devil himself (John 8:44), and his children resort to lies to deceive the simple any time they can for personal advantage. Unfortunately, the electorate these days, being simple or credulous, will believe everything their favorite politician tells them. “The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going” (Prov. 14:15). The prudent or cautiously-wise, on the other hand, carefully weighs every word, believing only that which can be confirmed. Politicians get away with lying because too many voters simply do not care whether they are telling the truth, and those who know they are lying are so biased in their opinions they will not expose the lies.

Thus, candidates will continue to lie by promising what they cannot and should not deliver when they are elected. To promise to take care of their devotees’ needs with their neighbor’s money is both a lie and outright thievery. First, no government or society can ever take care of all a person’s needs; secondly, it is wrong to try to do so by robbing those who have to give to those who have not.