Is it ever ok to lie?

Answer 1

only if your the government!

Answer 2

That is an ethics question.

There are extreme circumstances when a person's life depends on it.

When my kids were growing up and they got a phone call and they wanted me to lie and say they weren't home......I wouldn't do it unless they walked outside so that I could truthfully say...."no they are not in the house right now" To me telling the truth is important.

If someone with an ugly baby would ask what I think of the baby I wouldn't lie and say "beautiful", but I would say "what an amazing little one" A nebulous sort of answer.

If Hitler came to my house and I was hiding Jews and I was asked if I knew where they were. I would lie and say "no"

Othewise I don't think it is good to lie. I was married to a pathilogical lier and believe me it isn't easy to be around something like that on a long term basis.

Also everything that goes through your head needs to come out of your mouth. For instance you see a bad hair cut on someone..if they don't ask your opinion then don't say anthing There is no such thing as sin of omission when it comes to negative comments that don't matter.

Answer 3

To lie or "to not speak the truth as you know and believe it to be the case", is Okay if the lies you tell are morally or ethically necessarily justified or justifiable under the circumstances that lead you to lie. To lie about something important is morally complicated and it is only justified when you are not under the moral obligation to tell the truth (as under legal and moral oath), and it potentially would do no harm to yourself and to others to tell a lie or be deceiving under the circumstances. To tell a lie about something like answering a Question in a way that would help prevent harm coming to you or to other human beings can be morally justified.

There is a well-known book and movie about this called "Sophie's Choice" that presents a situation that considers this question in a very real way.

With that said, I would like to make this additional comment. In my opinion, lying about trivial things of no moral consequence to anybody,yourself included, is okay provided you do not thereby develop the habit and then forget or lose sight of the value of telling the truth about important matters of moral consequence. Telling the truth usually is the better course of action because it is morally good and justifiable more frequently than telling lies are.

If you believe that human beings each have a moral conscience that guides their thoughts and actions, then you would/should never say or do anything that afterwards will cause you to feel regret and shame for having said or done something. Deliberate lying to others is included under this generalization. TWH02162007addendum1

Lying to yourself is a separate and a much more complicated issue because it is usually a defense mechanism and it occurs in the unconscious.
TWH02162006 addendum2

I hope my comments help you develop a deeper understanding of question you asked. The answer is very important to the happiness of all caring individuals and the future health of a morally decent humanity.

TWH02152007 on the morality of lying.

Answer 4

It is not ok to lie. However, sometimes it is necessary to say things in such a way as not to harm others, if one cannot do that then it is best to say nothing at all.

Having said that, we all lie to a point don't we. When my husband ask me how he looks, and I look at him and see that he really looks tired or not quite put together, I might say. Sure you do.
Why, because I felt at that moment, it would of been more harmful to say "hey, you don't look to good, don't you have something nicer to wear?'

One must weight with every word spoken what those words will mean. That is why they say a man of few words usually is most respected once he does speak.

There is a case for lying....I just thought of, when it comes to the life and existence of a person, place or thing.

Answer 5

Sure it is. The whole objective is to both avoid doing harm to another person who does not deserve it, and, in some instances, to lie in the interests of bring about a greater justice where the person you are lying to is the criminal or wrongdoer.
There is far too much insistance on lying as a "black and white" issue. It is NOT. We condemn the uttering of untruths when this is done in order to help a person to further his own wrongful purpose - where deception will result in another person unjustifiably trusting the liar so that the liar gains an advantage, and the trusting person becomes the victim of a subsequent wrongdoing.
Every day, in thousands of circumstances, the telling of a simple and "non-malignant" untruth is totally acceptable, where to do otherwise would in fact cause physical or emotional hurt to the other person. If a person who is the victim of a serious car wreck, for instance, lying injured, looks up into the face of the paramedic and asks "am I going to die?" What kind of meanspirited piece of selfrighteous garbage is going to reply "Well, I refuse to lie to you. Yes, you probably are going to die. I've seen plenty of people in your condition, and they never survive this level of injury" Would you want to have somebody like that looking into the face of your injured loved one? Would you condemn the other kind of person who smiles gently and says "No, we're not going to let you die. You just hang in there, and we'll going to take care this, ok?"
If my dearest friend goes out and buys a ridiculous hat, and shows it to me, obviously thrilled with it, when she asks me "Isn't this just the cutest hat? You bet I am going to lie through my teeth LOL. I might, if I can avoid having to tell the harsh honest truth, say something non-committal in reply - like "It's a dilly allright!" or "Wow, yep, that's some kind of hat!!" But you would have to put a gun to my head before you would get me to say "Dang, girl, what in the world were you drinking to buy that ridiculous hat. It makes you look like Grandmaw Clampet"
Nope, it isn't the lie that's the "sin" The real sin, in a great many cases, is committed by the pompous, selfrighteous idiot, who thinks that his "lilywhite purity" is more important than avoiding hurt to another person.

Answer 6

Yes. Think of all the people who during WWII who lied to the Nazi party to save the Jews they hidden in their homes. On a lighter side, think of all the children whose parents tells them Santa Claus is always watching. Both of these situations are times when it okay to lie, and there are many more. However, in most situations honestly is the best policy. But nothing is ALWAYS right.

Answer 7

I feel it is sometimes acceptable to lie. It just depends on your intentions behind the lie. if you mean to hurt, or deceive someone, then you shouldn't do it. i feel that if you are only doing it with the best intentions and that you know certainly you will not hurt anyone in the process, then it is acceptable. and also, if you cant avoid lying to cover up something that is truly none of any ones business, but you feel it would be rude not to give an answer. but that's just me.

Answer 8

Little white lies are okay..to a certain extent. Like dont lie about killing someone, that wouldnt be very good. :b But like lieing about what you had for dinner..thats harmless. Dont make it a habit though or you wont be able to stop lieing!

Answer 9

No but sometimes you have to.... I try never to lie and even if I do I end up spitting out the truth because I feel bad. I think its okay when your little baby sister asks you where babies come from.

Answer 10

I lie when I play poker.

Answer 11

I don't know if it's ok but definitely sometimes it's best if the person doesn't know the truth.