Go ahead, construct your own reality, but please be honest about it.

I'm becoming more and more convinced that we construct our own reality. I am very thankful for absolute truth, but I am getting a deeper understanding of why absolutes are so hard to swallow. Absolutes rub against our pride and selfishness. I'm beginning to understand how this works out in my own small, short time on earth.
Then today I read Ryan's blog. I click on the link and I was astonished at what I read. Now, since I am part of corporate America and I work in Marketing, I can understand the need to clean things up and make it look pretty. I get that one needs to present a "persona" and maintain dignity.
However, there is a fine line between dignity and dimentia. The Beijing government has crossed over that line. I googled "2008 Olympic Torch Relay" to find this AP news article. I read the quote about China being seperated from the world for over 2,000 years and was reminded of things I had learned in China. I am a little shocked by how universal it is to attempt to maintain power by ignoring the obvious. It was done by almost everyone believing the world was flat, selling indulgences, and calling Christ a traitor.
The Beijing government tells lies because it can. If you try to overthrow the government, they will kill you. It's kind of a sweet deal on their end. They don't need to care about private citizens. There is no overarching principle in atheism that guides its adherents to be kind and caring. In fact, I've always wondered at why the Beijing government pretends to care about its private citizens. I don't get why they don't say "O.K., fine, we'll admit. We really don't care. However, we can still kill you if you overthrow us, so don't even think about it."
If the Chinese were really honest, I think their rhetoric would sound like this.