When Silence Becomes a Lie

When I was growing up, and where I come from, no matter how big or small the lie you might have told is, a lie is always regarded as a lie, just the way it is in the Bible that no matter how big or small the sin you might have committed is, in the sight of our creator, they are all the same, which has also made me say that a lie is a lie; there are no two things about that.

Either the lie that was told was said gently or said aloud; it is still the same thing; there is no ignorance about that. But as time goes on, my eyes were boldly opened to the fact that it is not every lie that is told that is wrapped in words; in fact, some lies are not said; they stay in silence because we have decided not to alter a word about it, which is called lie omissions, just like the title of today's Hive Learners prompt has told us to speak on.

I have seen a situation where a close friend of mine was gisting her fiancé about how our outing went, but she left out the part where we ran into her ex, spent a few minutes together, and reconnected. Or a contractor explaining why what he was building collapsed, leaving out the fact that he did not use the right amount of building materials necessary. These are the things that usually play out in everyday life around us, even though they are not detailed lies, but they are sugar-coated in a way that those who told the lies want others to perceive them.

Where I come from, a lot of people put reputation, families, and their appearances on their heads, and this has made omission an easier pathway to follow. You see them always convincing themselves that it is better than lying. But when we look at it deeply, the lie of omission usually carries great repercussions eventually when the truth is brought to light, because the person you told those things to will forever feel betrayed not by what happened but by tossing the full details with omission.

And yes, I will add that I have been guilty of this, and I have also been a victim. There was a time I once left out a part of a story just to avoid trouble from happening, only to find out that the person already had the full details, which blew up in my face, but thank God the person understood that I was trying to avoid conflict between him and the other person. That taught me that leaving some words unsaid can injure deeper because it can also spoil loyalty.

So, deciding to skip and omit what you ought to have said is like walking on a surface filled with landmines, because each step you take might be safe until it blows up in the long run, which will later destroy trust just like the outright lie.

Thank you for reading.

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