Monsignor Pope Ping for OSV column.
“Honey, does this dress make my butt look fat?”
The short answer is ‘No’.
Lying is not always wrong when done for the purposes of civil diplomacy or physical survival.
I had to learn that as a teenager, after being taught not to lie.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4WRtqmHpLvg
I’ve lost jobs because I refused to lie and my family has suffered as a result. I don’t know if what God thinks of that.
“Ah did not have sexual relations with that woman...”
“If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor...”
I hate to lie. I usually would rather tell the truth. People that know me, know this, so I do not get bothered with silly q’s.
It would seem that lying is not objectively wrong in a matter where the truth is inconsequential. Even a criminal charge of perjury requires the person To make a willful misrepresentation about a fact that is actually relevant to the legal proceeding.
I believe that the “holy” book of a certain religion actually condones it.
Now, for $0.0000000000001, guess the religion.
If the Roman Catholic truly believes it is a "mortal" sin they will keep their priest right by their side to "receive their forgiveness" as it is clear people lie all the time.
Social commonplaces can be understood in metaphoric, rather than literal terms. For example, “How are you?” (between strangers in the Post Office line) really means, “Initiation of ritual greeting,” and “I’m fine today. How are you?” means “Ritual response to greeting. Openness to additional exchange.”
“Isn’t my grandson beautiful?” means “Affirm my joy in being a grandparent.” It does not mean, “I want to know what you really think about how my grandson looks.”
Most people who have been normally socialized understand these things without being specifically told. Those with less-than-average social perception, like my Patrick, need to have the inputs and outputs codified for them.
A real set of instructions: “When a random adult at camp asks, ‘How do you like being on camp staff?’ you must give a positive response, such as ‘It’s okay,’ or ‘I’m having fun,’ because he is really saying, ‘I want affirmation that the staff have a positive attitude.’ If you have a real problem, find your supervisor and explain the problem. If you can’t explain the problem to your supervisor, ask him to call me.”
No. The allies created all sorts of lies prior to the D-Day landing. And there are many cases when dealing with evil doers where lying, or deception is called for.
“Remember Jerry, if you believe it, it’s not a lie’.
“. . . against your neighbor.”
one can lie to protect one's own life and the life of loved ones. One has a divine natural duty to preserve and protect right to life.
A lot of people don’t seem to understand what a lie is. A lie requires intent to tell a falsehood. One can also tell a falsehood because one is mistaken or in delusion.
One way to raise the sleeping giant in a person is to accuse them of telling a lie when they are merely mistaken and think they are telling the truth.
Is the questioner entitled to an answer or the truth?
If not, is it still a lie?
“If you ask me no questions, I will tell you no lies.”
Beer for the first person who gets the reference.
5.56mm