The Complexity of Honesty
Updated: Apr 26
Honesty can be described as being fair and straightforward in conduct. Why is it important? Everyone wants to be treated fairly, and everyone deserves to be dealt with in a straightforward manner. Being honest leads to better relationships in business, in personal life, and in your community. The first statement in the pledge of the Code of the Humanistic Temple of Alkebulan states:
I will be honest in all communications and actions.
Honesty may seem like a simple word, but it is actually complex in action. One would believe that all that is necessary is to simply tell the truth. In reality, there are times where it would be necessary to not tell the truth. One would still need to be honest in all communications and actions, while not dismissing the other 19 pledged virtues.
Scenario A.
A dear friend asks your opinion on her new hairstyle. You honestly think it is not appealing but you don't want to hurt her feelings. To be honest, you may say, "I think it's not appealing" but you also want to respect others, and you also want to be courteous and kind. That would be adhering to the Temple Code number five and number nine respectfully. How would you handle a situation where you want to adhere to all of the Temple Code? One would have to find a way to incorporate them all in communication and action. One suggestion may be to just use tact in your interaction. Simply stating, "I'm not sure that is the look for you" may or may not work. Herein lies the complexity of being honest. It takes a balance and actually training to navigate those situations.
Scenario B.
A tragic crime has occurred where multiple people were injured or killed. The news media, and others in the area are asking you what happened. Honesty says be truthful and straightforward. However, in your position, you cannot divulge the information in order to respect the family of the victims, and not wanting to taint or spoil the investigation. How would you typically handle these situations? A proper response could be to calmly state, "I'm not a liberty to discuss these details at the moment", or "This is an ongoing investigation, and the details will be discussed once we have a full or complete investigation". You were honest, but you also acted with integrity, respect, and graciousness.
Perfection is something to seek, never something to find. Temple Code number 9, Wisdom states: think and act using your knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. This should set you on the path to finding the solutions.