"Lies My Teacher Told Me" - Ch.6 (...Lies?)

     When I first read the subtitle to this chapter, "The Invisibility of Antiracism in American History Textbooks", I thought, why in the world would there be any need to hide Antiracism??  This chapter told me of Abraham Lincoln's difficult struggle in choosing between the unity of the American people or the moral defense of the colored.  At first I was shocked to read about two things:  1) that Abraham Lincoln had in fact stated in one of his speeches his support for the white supremacists, and 2) that Loewen would provide such incriminating evidence against one of America's best-known antislavery figures.  However, as could be predicted, Loewen goes on to defend Lincoln and his actions/words, and points out first that these words were necessary in uniting the country, to keep the white supremacist South and the abolitionist North together.  A question is brought to attention at this point(Rab mentioned it in class perhaps?):  Is it right to lie, for any reason?  We discussed this in class I think, and the general answer that we came up with was "Yes, because sometimes lies are necessary".  Or something like that. lol.  This is true I believe; it is a realist's point of view.  Of course ideally no one should lie; lying is bad, it can lead to misinterpretations, confusion, doubt, and all that other bad stuff.  However, how many people can say that they have never lied in their whole lives?  I don't think one should be proud of themselves for not ever having lied to anyone about anything, if such a person were to exist; rather, I would think them to be rather dull, not socially capable.  Why?  Lying is, in a way, a form of strategy.  Yes, I sound like a jerk saying this LOL but I think this is true.  Humans use lies to maneuver themselves out of trouble and/or harm's way; if a person were not capable of, or has ever, lied, then that simply means that they are that much incapable socially.  So, I believe that true, lies are bad, and they will lead to misinterpretations, confusion, doubt, and all that other bad stuff.  However, they are an important social tool for human communications; I believe Abraham Lincoln's use of lies in his speech in order to rally people to his cause is simply a technique, a tactic, played well.  However, it is how one copes with the side-effects of lies that determine how things will play out in the future:  either take the easy path, the path of lie after lie after lie, or take the just path, and work hard to make up for the negative effects liying can cause.