Understanding or Bigotry—the Truth or the Lie
I remember being invited to a party at the home of a billionaire. He had much nicer stuff than I did, but it was all the same stuff—we both had a place to live, food to eat, cars to drive. He flew in private planes. I flew on airlines, but we could both fly. He had a young, beautiful girlfriend. So did I (except mine was much lower maintenance).
We humans all have the same problems of survival. Fundamentally, there really isn’t that much difference between the richest man in the world and the poorest. We all have problems. We all solve them somehow. And when all is said and done, in the end when we’re dead, we occupy just about the same amount of real estate.
So it takes a very well-crafted lie to make us believe that we as humans are different and somehow opposed to each other, and then it takes hypnotic repetition of that lie to make us believe it completely.
Certain “news” media deal in nothing but problems. In a perverted way, this makes sense. People have survived because we love solving problems. It’s what we do. We love problems as much as Labrador Retrievers love chasing sticks. So the quickest way to fixate our attention is to give us problems.
Once you do that, you can sell us anything.
A lie is a false story. Fairy tales and novels are lies we’re not supposed to believe. The “news” and “documentaries” are composed of stories we are supposed to believe. Yet those both have been crafted to contain the same elements. Problems, drama, good and bad guys, etc. They both entertain us and rivet our attention. They’re both supposed to do exactly that.
We humans all have the same problems of survival.
L. Ron Hubbard wrote: “For a problem to exist, it must contain a lie.” And what is a lie? Someone saying something happened that didn’t. Something that didn’t happen, did. Something that is, isn’t. Something that isn’t, is. Something was that wasn’t. Something that wasn’t was. Something the same is different. Something different is the same.
I think that about covers it.
Upshot? When you have a problem, there’s a lie in it. When you tell a lie, you create problems.
Here are the basic types of lying certain tabloid outfits like A&E engage in. We’ll use our example of Mr. Billionaire to show how the media can use lies to create a problem between the two of us, where no problem exists in reality.
Types of Lies
The Bald-Faced Lie: This is a complete fabrication such as “Sources reveal that Mr. Billionaire makes his money from mafia ties.” Truth? Mr. Billionaire inherited a successful gravel operation from his dad. The bald-faced lie is often the most believable lie because it is normally so outrageous that people think it must be true if someone has the guts to say it. It has such impact that the lie will at least be considered as a possible truth from then on.
The Percentage Lie (has some truth): “Mr. Billionaire is a wealthy playboy.” Truth? He puts in 40 hours a week in his business, but he also travels the world and has a yacht and private plane and chases women.
The Hidden Lie: “Mr. Billionaire is mysterious and enigmatic.” Truth? He’s willing to talk, but no reporter has ever spoken to him. Nobody finds the gravel business that interesting.
The Appearance Lie (shifting importance—minimization or exaggeration): “Mr. Billionaire lives in a compound and secretly meets with other wealthy and powerful people.” Truth? He lives in a gated community overlooking the Pacific Ocean. He and his neighbors throw parties.
The Associative Lie (Proximity=Equality): “Mr. Billionaire funnels money to known felons and drug dealers.” Truth? Two truck drivers he employs were once incarcerated for burglary and drugs. He’s never met them but he signs their paychecks.
The Identity Lie (one or two things wrong means everything is wrong): “Mr. Billionaire is disabled.” Truth? Mr. Billionaire broke his toe on a coffee table and has been on crutches for a few weeks.
Compound Lie (a lie based upon another lie in the past): “Because of his underworld and powerful contacts, Mr. Billionaire has always escaped prosecution.” Truth? He was never investigated or committed any crimes in the first place. There isn’t much damage someone can do with gravel.
Have you ever noticed that when someone has entirely mastered a skill or subject they are usually very calm, unemotional and matter-of-fact? And the fewer accurate facts someone knows about a thing the more emotional they tend to be? Well, a master knows the precise truth of the subject. The other one doesn’t.
The other one has a problem.
Since the practice of Scientology mainly concerns itself with finding the exact truth in problems and situations, once a Scientologist becomes deft at uncovering the truth, he or she not only becomes a liar’s nightmare but an enemy of anyone who makes their living by the art of lying.
If you’ve ever wondered why “otherwise intelligent” people study and practice Scientology, you’ve been handed a problem.
I invite you to uncover the lie.
