Why "avoid"? Why not shun, or reject, or some such stronger word?
"Avoiding" dishonesty sounds like we are constantly confronting it and dodging it. Maybe like a driver going through an obstacle course. Our job is not to get rid of the cones, just don't knock one over. Is that an appropriate way to describe our experience with honesty?
This seems like a lesson that will inevitably be mostly full of stories. In her post from 2008, jeans shared a few, especially regarding academic honesty. Also check out the sidebar at lds.org for several conference talks. (My favorites would be Ann M. Dibb, “I Believe in Being Honest and True,” from Mar. 2011 general Young Women meeting and Richard C. Edgley, “Three Towels and a 25-Cent Newspaper,” from Oct. 2006 general conference.)
There are also some updated discussion questions on lds.org for every lesson. The ones for this lesson are still pretty basic, but to me the wording of the new questions always seems a bit more clear and up-to-date. (And there are no pre-formed answers the girls are supposed to magically answer with the exact wording or else we don't write their answer on the board... sorry, seen that too many times...)
More thoughts? How can we make this lesson not so straightforward that it takes about 10 minutes? I liked the comments from 2008 by anonymous & Reese about how other sins usually start with dishonesty. And then are perpetuated by dishonesty. (As someone who has watched a relative lie about pornography to the point of destroying a marriage and family relationships, then be honest only when caught, and now deny most of it all over again... I can see how dishonesty is certainly connected with other sins.) But really, as pointed out in those comments, every time we sin we are being dishonest with ourselves. Wickedness never was happiness, even though we think it will be worth it, once in a while.
Other thoughts?
I think I'm going to also spend a little time talking about _recognizing_ dishonesty. These girls live in a pretty slickly packaged world, where "truthiness" is good enough, most of the time. It can't hurt to remind them again of the falseness of the media landscape, the slipperiness of facebook personas, etc. They're engaged in a constant process of constructing themselves for different audiences, and maybe I can help them think a little about how to do that with integrity. I'll likely use one of my favorite poems from Edna St. Vincent Millay to explain why: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/modern-declaration/
ReplyDeleteI like the positive message of the poem--you want it to _mean_ something when you say "I love you," or "I have a testimony." If you have been false to anyone, even by omission or shading the truth, such declarations will always be less meaningful.