Is It Ever OK to Lie?

Archdiocese of Washington ^ | 02-02-16 | Msgr. Charles Pope

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

My pastor once preached a sermon with an upshot of, "God is truth, therefor anything other than absolute truth is an intrinsic contradiction of God's will."

That said, should people who were hiding Jews during the Holocaust have said, "Why yes, mr. gestapo agent, I do have some Jews in here, right this way..." Of course not.

The difference between lying and not telling the truth is, IMHO, the same difference as the one between murder and self-defense.

[ThomasThomas]

Exodus 5:1
Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”

Hmmm.

[NorthMountain]

Remember the Commandment, though: "Thou shalt not bear false witness."

The commandment is "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor".

[NorthMountain]

In the example of Anne Frank, given in the OP, the proper response would be no response.

The Gestapo would not have accepted silence as a response. A modern-day equivalent in this country won't accept silence either.

[ShadowAce]

What they accept is their decision. What you provide is yours.

[MNDude]

Why is it wrong to lie? It is wrong to lie because you are causing harm to your neighbor.

Your silence could be the same as admitting that you’re hiding someone and you would be guilty of sin because of the harm you would have caused.

[NorthMountain]

What they accept is their decision.

And their decision is to shoot you between the eyes, right there, tear your house apart, and find the Jewish family you were hiding in your attic, and haul them off to Bergen-Belsen.

[Just mythoughts]

Did Jesus ever lie? Did He not just keep His mouth shut?

[ShadowAce]

Could be. Could be that God would not allow that.

Doesn't matter. I am not God to make that decision. I am His creation to follow His decision to not allow lying.

[aquila48]

How would one then conduct an election?

[aquila48]

How would one then conduct an election?

[ShadowAce]

Your silence could be the same as admitting that you’re hiding someone and you would be guilty of sin because of the harm you would have caused.

Silence is admitting nothing. How they interpret your silence is on them.

[GreyFriar]

In the “Anne Frank” example, I’d rather trust Jesus to forgive me for lying to protect a person(s) from being killed by a tyrannical State or a criminal.

I also hope and pray that I will be forgiven for the times I’ve told my mother, who is in hospice, that I’m ok and her grandchildren are in good health. She has always been a worrier, and I see it merciful in saving her from other worries.

These are the only two exceptions I have in my rejection of what was called “situational ethics” back in college philosophical discussions in the late 60s.

[NorthMountain]

May you never be faced with such a decision.

[BitWielder1]

Like everything else we do, we have to exercise good judgment and think of the consequences.
Think of the damage you do when you lie, think of the damage you would cause if you tell the truth to the wrong person.
There are people who seek to harm us and we have no obligation to share information they could use to do so.
Lying is wrong but sometimes we have an even larger DUTY to conceal private or confidential information we may have.
The nature of some secrets is such that even evading the question gives away too much information. Then a lie is necessary.

[ShadowAce]

I hope not. It would be very difficult. I won’t even say I would behave properly in that situation, given the circumstances. But I know what’s right.

[Maverick68]

If someone has an ugly wife, you NEVER say so.

[IronJack]

I think God is more concerned with the motive than the act. So if one lies — admittedly a sin, as the good Monsignor demonstrates — but with a pure heart, then I suspect the Almighty will consider that when passing His awful judgment.

[ShadowAce]

I think God is more concerned with the motive than the act.

Sorry--the two are always tied together. Sinning means you believe you know better than God. Doesn't matter what you tell yourself.

[ADSUM]

WE have choices between good and evil.

Sometimes we must choose between evils, and choose the lesser evil, such as political candidates.

There was a general rule about lying for your own benefit was wrong, but lying (or not telling the truth) to protect others was acceptable.