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Leaving something so beautiful is a difficult thing, but sometimes we ought to make big decisions. I am fully prepared for what’s in store for me. But I am glad that I have identified a great path for myself and there is a calling for me to make the right decision even though it means I have to reliquish something so precious.
It is time to move on.
(Reference to this week’s dialogue practice)
Have you lied in your life? I know I have, but does it mean lying is morally wrong or does it constitute a great folly that corrupts people’s mind?
What is a lie? By definition, a lie is a fabrication of an untruth where the person who concocts a false statement will use it to make others believe its truthfulness. A liar is the person who commits lying. We dub someone a crook (a cunning, sly person so to speak) if the person habitually deceives others for their own benefits.
A lie does not necessarily equate to deceit. For instance, if a butterfly stretches its wings signaling a threat to predators, albeit its actual puny little body, it gives a false illusion of a larger and more intimidating profile, perhaps very dangerous to prey on. In this case, a butterfly is not lying to have stronger physique, it is more of a survival skill where the insect uses deception to blur predators’ perception.
Mother nature applies deception into various plants and animals in ecology. Many carnivore (meat eater) plants exemplify what it is to deceive their preys with signs and coax them to their “decoys”.
Behold, the Nepenthes
Above is a perfect example of a carnivore plant that gives no mercy when insects especially flies fall into their entrapment. They spew an awful stench that mimics decomposing matter from its cups and then once a fly dives in, the cup seals the lips tightly, shattering the fly’s dream of a big feast and immediately reversing it to a nightmare of eternal demise.
They use their perfectly deceiving appendage to acquire prey in order to self-sustain. Animals like lizards, frogs, and others also manipulate their body in time of danger to fend off potential predators. Deception maybe a way for many of these organisms to battle in the natural selection.
However, in the Christian Bible and in God’s eyes lying is a sin (breaking of God’s laws) that is as vile as adultery and murder. According to the Ten Commandments where reads: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor (Exodus 20:16). Basically it translates into “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor”. Using speech to tell a lie is against the Ten Commandments because “every soul” in the world is our neighbor, so if we deliberately choose to deceive, we will have to face consequences for our misdeeds on the day it comes unless we repent. Lying is as awful as gossiping and slandering which are also false manipulation of God’s creation of speech.
the Ten Commandments
There are “harmless lies” called the white lies. In the real world, white lies are often used to buffer a situation or protect someone’s feelings. Personally, I am confused about the morality of white lies. If you mislead someone into believing something which is untrue, wouldn’t that be morally wrong?
There are many areas to explore in this topic and I will leave it at this. Feel free to leave a comment.
Blogging is not just a pastime for journalists. People of different ages have embarked on an era of blogging frenzy. In fact back in 2001, having a blog was yet a new fad to Chinese. While blog users were propagating in the US and UK, many Chinese tech guys started picking up the trend and instilled blogging into the Chinese culture.
Chinese always ask me if Americans write differently in their blogs. There is not much of a writing style difference but more of a cultural difference. Bloggers use blogs for several obvious reasons:
1. Express themselves
2. Rant/vent about something
3. Write/tell a story
4. Share information
The concept of blogging is universal, but the way we write varies from people to people. Youngsters like to blather about daily nuisances and gossips whereas adults prefer writing more intellectual topics. However, we don’t write uniformly. Our writing preference differs from one another depending on our occupation or/and hobbies.
Take my blog as an example. Its focus is on teaching English, so it ought to be an educational blog. However, every now and then you will find me posting miscellaneous subjects on the blog as a recreational purpose. Other blogs that I have encountered are TechCrunch.com, a technology updates blog, CNN Blog, a news blog, Gizmo, another tech blog, Businessweek blog, by definition a business blog, and so on.
Every blog serves a purpose whether it is a chronicle of your own life or a news site; it is aimed to share information with readers. The beauty of blogging is its interactive nature between the writer and the readers. Usually readers’ comments motivate writers to keep composing quality posts. If a story is interesting, it provokes people to think and talk about it. If a blog is successful, it can draw in a lot of visitors and create a buzz for the website.
I have used blogs as a marketing tool for online promotions or any sort of viral marketing events. If blogs are used right, they keep people coming back to the same site for the latest information that satiates their desires and craving. Nowadays there are video blogs, photo blogs and event audio blogs. The variety is astonishing, but the old school text blogs have never been overshadowed by the new fledging ideas. The point is that old school way works anywhere under any circumstances. If a website does not support stream videos or the bandwidth could not withstand loading a lot of photos, text blogs will outshine all.
Maybe you should try to start a blog if you have not had one and write something on it. It may surprise you of what you are capable of with the magic of blogging.
