Everything in life is not always black and white. A well-intentioned untruth sometimes is not the best thing to say even if the idea is to try and help someone. Stephanie Ericsson’s “The Ways We Lie” displays cause-and-effect patterns in several instances of deceptions to enlighten her readers about human tendencies.
In ignoring the plain facts author Stephanie Ericsson explains how ignoring the truth can cause pain for the unsuspecting. She writes about Father James Porter molesting children in the church in the 1960’s. The ecclesiastical authorities heard about the wrongful doing, but instead of punishing Father Porter they believed it would be best to just move him. He was moved around from church to church from 1960 to 1967 due to his sickness. Consequently, he was handed innocent new victims. For this reason, after many years of abusing children he was finally given treatment in 1967. The abuse continued after Father Porter was released to go back to work in the church. While the higher authorities ignored the facts he was able to abuse many children.
People believe omission is something people do to not hurt the other person. Author Stephanie Ericsson writes about a Sumerian goddess whom was omitted from the Bible. This gave a new outlook on how people looked at the story of Adam and Eve. The author states she was introduced to Lilith …show more content…
In groupthink Stephanie Ericsson writes about how the Navy command in Hawaii suppressed the idea that the Japanese would make a decision to attack Pearl Harbor. Despite receiving many warnings about the planned attack the Japanese had on Pearl Harbor the Navy command took it very lightly. The command did not have alternative viewpoints when it came to making a consensus decision. Meanwhile, all the commanders at Pearl Harbor were granted leave on December 5th and no decision was made. As a result, Pearl Harbor was attacked December 7th, 1941 due to omission and