Seth B. Draper
Mister Pauley
English IIIA
16 September 2004

Santa Robbed Us of Our Rights
“False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.” Plato spoke these words over two millennia ago. In spite of this time difference, these words are just as true today as they were when first articulated. It is because of the veracity of this statement that absolute truth is a paramount value for the foundation for any society.
Fictional characters told as truth create a precedence for lying which hinders societal progress. John Locke, a great philosopher who contributed to the United States of America’s constitution, states that for a populace to prosper freedom needs to abound (Catanzaro). Freedom is defined as the power to make a decision for oneself. All of the facts must be known for a person to be able to make a real judgment. When a conclusion is made based on falsities, a person is robbed of a real decision because if they had known the truth, their choice might have been different. As people are lied to, they lose the freedom of true choice, so it has come to the point that society can no longer flourish. A manifestation of this is the presidential election. The president is a person in power that can pass laws, negotiate treaties, and even declare war. Somebody with that kind of power needs to be of the highest moral order. Yet, it is not uncommon for these men to lie (York). Because society has created an acceptance of lying, the candidates can and will lie. That means we are putting people into power under false pretenses that could lead to a war monger in office who campaigned as a peacemaker. Harrowing this may be, but it is allowed to continue because of how we live; deceptions become more and more commonplace when others around them are lying (Alexander). For this reason, it is imperative that all lies need to be abolished. A culture saturated with fabrications begets liars and thus destroys the opportunity for forward movement in society.
Not only does lying hinder societal progress, but it damages interpersonal relationships. When interpersonal relationships are marred by falsities, the concept of society, a group of people uniting together, falls apart. It is a necessity for there to be these affiliations with others for a civilization to exist. These affiliations need truthfulness from the participants to be formed and grow. A friendship, marriage, or any other kind of relationship needs the truth because without it, the people will not truly come to know one another. Take for example the parents of Mark Hacking. They believed he was happily married and attending medical school (Hewitt). In all actuality though, he was faking his attendance to the university and had murdered his wife (Hewitt). There was nothing short of total devastation for these people when they learned the truth (Hewitt). Neighbors, parents, and friends were in tears over the reality of the fact; the fact being that he murdered and led his entire life as a lie (Hewitt). Emotional scars will forever be left on these people. As lies are told to one another, it creates hypocrisy and when this is exposed, tumultuous feelings are created. Emotions that are results from being lied to, destroy these relationships and disallow people the closeness and bond ship necessary for a healthy life. For civilization to continue on, there is need for intimate relationships. This cannot be achieved when lies are allowed to be rampant in society even the littlest white lies.
Inhibition of cultural progress and mutilation of interpersonal relations are signs of a greater idea; lying is a transgression of our basic rights as humans. Three inalienable rights are given to all people when they have come into existence, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness within reason. Liberty is synonymous with freedom; freedom was earlier proven to be abolished when lies abound. It is unethical, immoral, and illegal to perform an act that encroaches upon those rights. An infringement of these rights are noticeable and already being committed today in society. Presidents who lie, deceive, and gain power deceitfully and friends who hurt others with white lies are repercussions of a culture brimming with lies. The abominable acts just described allow people, in any relation to us whether by ex officio or by friendship, into our lives unwantedly. Once a level of intimacy is achieved, deeds are executed that attack a person mentally, bodily, and emotionally. All of this has and will happen when lies are accepted. This means that telling someone anything untrue, even if it is the idea of Santa Claus, is a despicable act worthy of dissolution.
Continuation and growth of any civilized culture can only be achieved with absolute truth. Lies cause anguish and degradation to all those involved. This tribulation is caused because no matter how little the lie, it is immoral, unethical, and wicked. No matter how hard one tries, with concepts based in evilness, the soul always becomes adulterated with evil.

Works Cited
Alexander, Kelley King. “The truth about lying of work: are lying, loafing and misleading the new ways of the work place? Some experts believe our society is on a moral slipper.” Greater Baton Rouge Business Report. 9 April 2002. 16 Sept. 2004 <http://www.findarticles.com/>.  
Catanzaro, Michael. “John Lock Foundation.” Human Events 22 Aug. 1997. EBSCO HOST. EBSCO. Payson High School Library. 15 Sept. 2004. <http://search.epnet.com/>.
Hewitt, Bill and Clark, Champ and Campbell, Carolyn and Free, Kathy and Sandler, Barbara and Rozsa, Lori and Hamashige, Hope. “Bloody Lies.” People 16 Aug. 2004. EBSCO HOST. EBSCO. Payson High School Library. 16 Sept. 2004. <http://search.epnet.com>.
York, Bryan. “Presidential Pants on Fire?: They Say That Bush is ‘Lying’. They’re wrong.” National Review 16 June 2003. 16 Sept. 2004 <http://www.findarticles.com>.