Weekly Thought > Personal Growth > The Spin of Sin
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The Spin of Sin
The scripture instructs us to let our "yes" be "yes" and our "no" be "no which is telling us to tell the truth briefly and completely - with integrity.
Today spin has become an art in the manipulation of language and meaning. It is like a virus that has invaded our computer. I dislike commercials so much that I had to find something interesting in them. You know what it is? The way they massage their ads to stay within legal limits while still conveying a feeling or understanding that is untrue.
For example, the effects of cosmetics if way overstated but if you analyze the actual words they are still within the law. It takes clever lawyers to keep them walking this fine line... without spinning over the edge. Instead of promising results they offer hope. Instead of admitting that only a small group will be benefited they indicate that everyone will profit.
An advertising firm studied the practices of our society and found that social white lies were totally acceptable. For example, we exaggerate our compliments and diminish our criticisms. Now society accepts white lies that are profitable.
Politicians have become very adroit at spinning. Recently I was listening to one of the Congressional committees discussing the improvement of ethics. It was laughable, if not dangerous. They were making a big deal about limiting meals accepted from lobbyists to $50 but were adamant about retaining the right of lobbyists to give parties which might run from 25K to 50K per event. When they got into ways of accepting gifts in the 100s of thousands of dollars they were careful to find a way to make that work, yet their public pronouncements were about limiting meals to $50.
We have lost the spirit of truth. We are developing experts who make language legal, but not morally right.
This week think about: 1) Where am I moving from simplicity to spin? 2) What does it mean to operate with the spirit of truth? 3) How do I buy into spin?
