Post-Reading: The House of The Scorpion

"I always say the truth is best even when we find it unpleasant.....lying is the most personal act of cowardice there is."

To me this quote means that no matter the consequences lying is an act of cowardice. No matter what the consequences you should always tell the truth. You need to know the truth even though sometimes it’s unpleasant because in the end it could end up helping you. This quote is true, in my opinion, because if you are lying it is because you are afraid of the consequences that will come when the truth comes out and you aren’t courageous enough to tell the truth. Sometimes you are afraid of telling the truth because it hurts the people/person you love, but wouldn’t you want someone to tell you the truth no matter what? I hate it when people lie or "keep the truth" from me. I always want to know the truth no matter the consequences. That is why I always tell my friends and family the truth, even if it isn’t what they want to here.

Sometimes the truth helps you. For example if your ask your friend if your idea is good or not, and it's not, but they tell you it is and the next day you go and present it in front of your coworkers and boss, you make a fool of yourself. Or what if you were doing the presentation to get a promotion? You wouldn't have gotten it and it might have ruined your chances of ever getting a promotion in the future. It would have been better if your friend had just told you it was a bad idea, it might have hurt your feelings, but then you wouldn't have embarrassed yourself in front of your coworkers and boss. The people telling the truth (usually) understand the uncomfortableness and unpleasantry that the truth will cause, but they have enough courage to do the right thing, telling the truth.

In the House of The Scorpion Tam Lin and everyone else (including Celia and Maria) thought that Matt had killed Maria's dog -Furball- to get her to talk to him. Matt keeps telling him and everyone else that he didn't, but they don't believe him. I mean why would they? He is a clone after all and he also kidnapped Furball and wrote a ransom note -which he signed- but Tam Lin expects Matt to tell the truth and is disappointed that Matt isn’t telling the truth (but he is).

In the book so many people keep secrets and tell lies -I mean they are working for or are the family of a drug lord- and according to this quote all those people were doing a really cowardly thing, and I agree with that because to tell the truth you need to be strong and courageous to handle everything that comes after the truth is set free. An example of someone lying is Maria’s father - Senator Mendoza. He lied to Maria and told her that her mother had died, when she had actually left and and became set on taking down El Patron’s empire and destroying Opium.

In conclusion I agree with the quote on that “... the truth is best even when we find it unpleasant... lying is the most personal act of cowardice there is.” I feel like you should always tell the truth and that telling the truth can sometimes take courage and strength. It doesn’t always because sometimes the truth isn’t always bad, you may actually like your friends ideas and believe that they are amazing or you may think that they are wearing the prettiest dress in the world. And like John 8:32 says “... the truth will set you free.”

Pre-Reading: The House of the Scorpion

Think of the following two words: conscience and friendship.  Explain how each word influences decision making.  When making decisions which is a "bigger influence" for you and why?

Conscience and friendship influence you when you are making decisions. Sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes it's not. Friendship influences you because you don't want your friends to be mad at you for doing something they don't like. Also if your friend asks you to do something you want to do/try or help them do it. Conscience is also an influence on decision making because sometimes someone will ask you to do something you don’t agree with and your conscience tells you what to do.

Sometimes your friends will ask you to do something you know is wrong; some will do it, others won’t. Some will do it to impress or to keep the friendship. The ones who don’t do it are the ones I look up to, they don’t do something just because they were asked to do it. They are brave and strong to go against what their friends asked them to do. I don’t think you should do something you know is wrong just because your friends or even your family asked you. Everyone is different, some will do anything for their friends/family. While some take the time to think things through and see if the outcome is worth having to deal with the repercussion of doing something that is wrong. If your friends are true friends than they will forgive you. They will understand that you don’t want to do it. They would understand the toll it would take on you emotionally and/or physically. If they don’t understand or can’t forgive you for not doing it, then they aren’t true friends. They don’t care about you enough to understand that if you do something that goes against what you believe or that is wrong it will take a toll on you emotionally, that you might never be the same because of it.

Some people let their friends decide what to do for them, or let them influence their decisions. These decisions aren’t always about doing good or bad, sometimes it’s about something like what college you apply to. You want to stay with your friends so you apply to the same college/university as them even if you don’t want to go or have an opportunity to go to a top college. When I am making decisions conscience is a bigger influence on me. I wouldn’t do something that I know and/or believe is wrong even if my friends asked me to do it. Conscience is a bigger influence on me because I believe that it is better to have my closest friends being angry or disappointed in me than to have my conscience weighing me down because I did something that is wrong. If I did something that I know is wrong just because my friends asked me to do it, I don’t think I would be able to forgive myself. My conscience would never let me forget about it.

For me my conscience is a bigger influence on my decisions than my friends. Even though I do take them into consideration, my conscience, in the end is what is a bigger influence on my decision making.