George S
Veteran Member
Looking at not what is moral but what is immoral it occurred to me that all immorality has one thing in common. The lie.
An honest thief can be a moral man in all other regards. His lie is his claim to others that he owns his stolen goods, his to use, his to sell.
Not all lies are immoral of course. And not all untruths are lies, but mistakes. But deception is always a part of immorality.
There was a time when Might makes Right was the way the world was. Land was claimed by "Right of Conquest." A King could order anyone in his realm executed. And he could pardon anyone as well. Every soldier pledged loyalty to his King. They fought and died at his order. It was immoral to break that pledge; to have lied.
To go to war over a lie -- immoral.
The current crime of the day is lying to the FBI.
An honest thief can be a moral man in all other regards. His lie is his claim to others that he owns his stolen goods, his to use, his to sell.
Not all lies are immoral of course. And not all untruths are lies, but mistakes. But deception is always a part of immorality.
There was a time when Might makes Right was the way the world was. Land was claimed by "Right of Conquest." A King could order anyone in his realm executed. And he could pardon anyone as well. Every soldier pledged loyalty to his King. They fought and died at his order. It was immoral to break that pledge; to have lied.
To go to war over a lie -- immoral.
The current crime of the day is lying to the FBI.