Thursday, February 5, 2009

Radical Honesty Policy

If you've been watching the new show Lie to Me, maybe you're as fascinated as I am. Honestly, how can I get a job at the Lightman Institute? Seriously though, I actually have a copy of a book on handwriting analysis and now this show comes along about how the truth is always revealed on our faces in some form or another; handwriting analysis is much the same. If I could possess the skills to read both I would be some sort of superhero. Like, totally.

One of the characters on the show has this policy of being radically honest at all times. Apparently, fear of rejection is not as high on his list as it is on most people's. It does help when one is a fictional character. I find his honesty to be delightfully endearing in a proverbial sense: Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. (
Proverbs 27:6) Sure, there are other verses that talk about "love covering a multitude of sins" but I think that has more to do with forgiveness and a desire to honor others than it has to do with talking straight about things that need to be said. My best friends are people who talk straight, usually. The small percentage of the time that they are not 100% honest has more to do with grace than with deceit.

Since I do harbor at least some fear of rejection, alas I am not a fully integrated superhero yet. That fear lessens by the year (which explains why old men can wear white shoes and plaid polyester slacks) so by the time I'm 93 I will be ready to kick butts from here to Sri Lanka. If I watch all the episodes of Lie to Me perhaps I will be permitted an honorary degree as a facial cues scientist. Do you need a degree to be a superhero?