Secondary: Current Assemblies

ON TELLING THE TRUTH

By James Lamont

Suitable for Key Stage 3/Key Stage 4


Aim

To think about why it is better to tell the truth.

Preparation and materials

• You might ask a student to read the poem, or several, taking parts: ‘Matilda’ by Hilaire Belloc (http://www.btinternet.com/~a.ghinn/funnypoems.htm).

Assembly

1. Begin with the poem ‘Matilda’ by Hilaire Belloc.
   
2. Why tell the truth? There’s much to gain from lying, especially if you are guilty of something. It can often be easier to lie than to face a harsh fact – that you’ve done wrong or that your day has just got harder. People lie to each other all the time: you will probably have been lied to already today. In a world in which the truth seems so often ignored, why lose out for the sake of ‘the truth’, whatever that is?
   
3. Even though it may be hard to say what ‘the truth’ is in a general sense, in any situation it is easy to identify what is the truth. You know what is the truth and what is a lie; we all have this sense within us. We cannot tell a lie unknowingly. Of course, we can make a mistake and say something incorrect. Few people would say this is wrong, but it may well cause problems later on. For example, if you try to help someone with their work but your answer is incorrect, you have not done something immoral but they will lose marks.
   
4. Lying is different. The liar knows what they say is incorrect; they aim to deceive and provide an inaccurate description of the world or themselves. They are then responsible for the bad outcomes of their deception. Lying is wrong in this sense because it creates problems for others that need not have arisen: they acted in good faith on your lie.
   
5. This shows another problem: lying damages the liar as well. A liar is branded as such: what they say may not be trusted. The liar cannot successfully lie for ever. Human relationships are built on trust and the liar gains none: and without trust, one cannot lie to others, because the lies will not be believed. Also, the liar’s true sayings will not be believed either, and will be worthless as a means of communication.
   
6. Of course, there are different types of lies. A lie can be a good thing in some circumstances, in cases when the truth could hurt another’s feelings. However, a lie, if continued, can inflate and become impossible to maintain. In such cases, the discovery of the truth can be more painful than it would have been if the lie not been told in the first place.
   
7. Fortunately, we can deal with these moral questions. A person’s conscience tells us what is right. Listen to it, develop it and don’t ignore it, because if you do, you are only lying to yourself.

Time for reflection

For every time she shouted ‘Fire’

They only answered ‘Little liar’.

You may not be shouting ‘Fire’ today,

but when will you be tempted

not to tell the truth?

Maybe to elaborate the truth,

exaggerate,

tell a ‘white lie’ to get you out of trouble.

You may not be shouting ‘Fire’ today,

but when will you be sidling away from the truth

for the truth will get you into trouble.

Maybe the dog did eat your homework this time.

Prayer

Help us to tell the truth,

sensitively,

truthfully,

recognizing that without truth

the world would be a worse place to live.

Help me to tell the truth today.

Amen.