An innocent lie, is a sin?

Question

Like telling a toddler that Santa is real.

Answer 1

LOL...

By definition: an "innocent lie" would be a lie made in error. In other words, the lie-teller would have to believe erroneously that what he was saying to the child was true. Telling a toddler that Santa is real is not done innocently, it's an "intentional lie" but it's told with good intention and it's told for the purpose of entertaining the child's imagination - it is also told with the knowledge that the result of the lie will be temporary and that the lie will right itself as time goes by and as the child learns the truth of reality.

There is another type of lie... the name attached to it isn't established as far as I know... but this would be a lie of deceit on the part of the teller. This lie would pass along a falsehood that is probably well known to the teller to be so - the lie would be one that the teller actually has had to struggle over - suffering disbelief himself and finally deceiving himself by some mental trickery and abandoning his own logic in order to adopt the lie "by faith" ....

Do you know a name for this lie? It's the lie of telling a toddler that god is real. Should we call it the "faithful lie" ... the "big lie" ... the "god lie" ...the "religious lie" ... or should we call it the "detestably ignorant and manipulatively sinful lie"?

You choose which one is best.

[][][] r u randy? [][][]
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Answer 2

Done properly you can teach great lessons to a child on how Jesus gave every one the greatest gifts that can be received, and that is the point of Santa all along. If you have that attitude when having fun with Santa I don't think it will be counted against us. However we can sin very easily even when we think we are trying to do the right thing.

Answer 3

A lie is a lie and the Bible says not to lie. Yes, telling your child about Santa is a sin. I think that it's not right to lie to children about Santa. It may cause them to distrust everything we say. Maybe, once the child finds out that you lied about Santa they might start to think....."Hummmm, I wonder what else mommy and daddy lied to me about?...maybe they are lying about God and Jesus too." And it also teaches children that it's OK to lie. How can you tell your child not to lie when you've told them a wopper like Santa Clause?

Answer 4

i do no longer lie if so. I basically suck it up and tell them "I forgot. Sorry. i will have it via Tuesday." i think of the only time I lie is to spare somebody elses emotions. Like if a toddler asks a question the place the reality may be very painful or "does my butt seem fat in those pants" styles of questions.

Answer 5

innocent and lie dont go together...whats the point in telling them he is real? they are going to find out he is not anyways and then he can be smarter than the rest of the kids because he is in reality

Answer 6

I know, and it was also a sin to tell my kids that the needle wasn't going to hurt when he got an injection. Sometimes we lie to spare them from things that they are too young to understand or comprehend. I also told lies to spare others ( adults) from obsessing over their insecurities. It's sin to do so, but sometimes we are weak. God knows our weaknesses and we learn by them.

Answer 7

There is no such things as an innocent lie.

(And what do you mean!? Santa's NOT real !? )

Answer 8

A lie is a sin big or small

Answer 9

Sin is a religious concept. They are violations of man-made religious rules. I go by the law and rules of morality .

Answer 10

Santa was real. He was St. Nicholas, he actually did give gifts to children on Christmas..