"B.H." <lugh@cats.ucsc.edu> wrote: Kevin Walsh wrote:
On Wed, Feb 24, 1999 at 01:14:29AM -0500, EDG wrote: Nope. "I heard this once" and "this is what I was told" may be true in and of themselves, but by obfuscating like that the Seraph in question certainly gains dissonance for repeating a falsehood without clarifying that it is, in fact, a falsehood,
I fail to see why. The Seraph is not, in fact, claiming that it is true. All the Seraph is claiming is that the Seraph heard someone say it.
Because the falsehood- even the deception in the words is painful to the Seraph. The seraph's nature is Truth, which doesn't leave room for much deception at all. Granted, they do learn fast-talk, especially Janus' seraphs, but even then it's just not comfortable. Depends on the seraph and type of seraph, really, as well as how much deception the falsehood causes.
Except that there is a world of difference between painful necessities and Dissonance. Sometimes you have to do things you don't like. Sometimes, Cherubim have to accept they can't help a human in their problems. Sometimes, Mercurians just can't take the time to get to know someone. Sometimes, a Seraph needs to play fast with the Truth.
But when you act Dissonant, you are *directly* acting against your nature -- your very *existance* in the Symphony. A Seraph who lies. A Cherub who lets his charge die. A Mercurian who kills a human. These things are a direct jarring sound in the harmonies of the Angel's being.
A Seraph loves Truth. He believes in Truth. His words can only be true ones. By speaking True words that convey a different meaning, he is remaining reconciled to his inner nature -- he is not lying. He doesn't like doing it, but sometimes you have to do things you don't like.
However, to *lie* to someone -- to express falsehoods as truths -- is to sing a modulated third below the melody line, and flat at that. It's instantly noticable, most of all by you. It hurts the music. It hurts the Angel, not just at that moment, but enduringly. That's the difference between the truth carefully phrased and a lie.
I can imagine that the more a Seraph splits hairs and obfiscates his truthes inside of wording, the closer he'll creep to out and out lying. And sooner or later, he'll cross that line in his phrasing and be dissonant. And some Seraphim take that wake up call and straighten out. And others don't, and get more dissonance. And even Discord. And stop being able to accept that they're breaking the rule, until finally they *convince* themselves that they're speaking the Truth. Which is about when the package from Lucifer's of Hollywood shows up at the door.
So why does a Seraph ever split hairs with the Truth to give the wrong impression? Because sometimes you have to do things you don't like. And the more you do them, the easier they are to do, because you get numb to them.
(I promise I'm not so verbose when I'm better rested.)
-- Eric Alfred Burns | <http://www.annotations.com> <in-sabre@annotations.com> | <http://www.roundrobin.org> non in-nomine mail to sabre@annotations.com
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