As I write this, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the Vice Presidential Chief of Staff under President Bush has been indicted under five counts of lying, perjury and obstructing justice. I do want us to be clear on the meaning of the word "indicted." It doesn't mean convicted or proved. It means there is a formal charge against someone for committing a serious criminal offense.
There are many ways in which we lie.
In 1837, Hans Christian Anderson published a fairy tale called "The Emperor's New Clothes." In it, the emperor is duped by con men into believing that invisible thread would make beautiful clothes. He convinces himself to disbelieve his eyes; his vanity makes him oblivious to the truth. Everyone around him, afraid or wishing to gain favor, tells him to his face that the clothes are beautiful. Privately, they wonder that they can't see what the emperor can see, or laugh at his vanity. It isn't until the emperor is parading through town in his underwear that a child loudly and rightly declares that the emperor has no clothes.
Teaching Children to Lie
In the Anderson fable, the mother tries to shush the child before his words reach the emperor's ears. She is afraid of what will befall her child and herself for offending so mighty a man, regardless of where the truth lies.
And so we teach our own children to lie in many ways. See if you can relate to any of the following as happening to you as a child or, perhaps, something you told your own children.