Being a Person of Your Word

INTRO: Mr. Myrick had to go to Chicago on business and persuaded his brother to take care of his cat during his absence. Though he hated cats, the brother agreed. Upon his return, Mr. Myrick called from the airport to check on the cat.
"Your cat died," the brother reported, then hung up. Myrick was inconsolable. His grief was magnified by his brother’s insensitivity, so he called again to express his pain.
"There was no need for you to be so blunt," he said. "What was I supposed to say?" asked the perplexed brother. "You could have broken news gradually," explained Myrick. "You could have said, ’The cat was playing on the roof.’ Then, later in the conversation, you could have said, ’He fell off.’ Then you could have said, ’He broke his leg.’ Then when I came to pick him up, you could have said, ’I’m so sorry. Your cat passed away during the night.’ You’ve got to learn to be more tactful."
"By the way, how’s Mom?" After a long pause, the brother replied, "She’s playing on the roof."
Some thoughts about lying:
1. A USA Today poll found that only 56% of Americans teach honesty to their children. And a Louis Harris poll turned up the distressing fact that 65% of high school students would cheat on an important exam. Recently a noted physician appeared on a network news and talk show and proclaimed, "Lying is an important part of social life, and children who are unable to do it are children who may have developmental problems."
2. Intentional deceit is another plague riddling our society. One-third of all adults (32%) claim that "the way things are these days, lying is sometimes necessary." We live in a world where truthfulness and lies are no longer able to be distinguished. We live in a world where students make a great effort to cheat. We live in a world that thinks it is necessary to lie to get by.
-After doing 3.8 million background checks, Automatic Data Processing, Inc. announced that 52% of job applicants had lied on their resumes.
3. The book "The Day America Told the Truth" says that 91% of those surveyed lie routinely about matters they consider trivial, and 36% lie about important matters, 86% lie regularly to parents, 75% to friends, 74% to siblings and 69% to spouses.
-A national survey by Rutgers’ Management Education Center of 4,500 high school students found that 75% of them engage in serious cheating.
-Perhaps most disturbing, many of them don’t see anything wrong with cheating. Some 50% of those responding to the survey said they don’t think copying questions and answers from a test is even cheating.
4. It’s interesting, telling the truth rather than lying is encouraged by every major religion. : Taoism says: Do not assert with your mouth what your heart denies.
: Buddhism says: Lying is the origin of all evils; it leads to rebirth in the miserable planes of existence, to breach of the pure precepts, and to corruption of the body.

: Hinduism says: All things are determined by speech; speech is the root, and from speech they proceed. Therefore he who is dishonest with respect to speech is dishonest in everything.
: Islam says: There are three characteristics of a hypocrite: when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he acts treacherously; and when he is trusted, he betrays.
: Confucius says: I do not see what use a man be put to, whose word cannot be trusted. 5. What others have said.
: Nietzsche said: