Is it sin to pretend?

[jedpatrickdatu]

For example, when I’m in a building and I saw a person I know, I don’t confront them immediately, but when he or she notices me later on, I act surprised and say “Oh hi, it’s you!”

Or how about pretending to listen to someone by keeping eye contact with him or her and nodding, even if I don’t get what he or she’s saying or my mind is somewhere else, mostly because I want him or her to feel cared?

Or how about pretending to be happy when you’re sad, and vice versa?

Are those situations equivalent to lying?

 

[JerryZ]

Well at least it is NOT a mortal sin, so I chalk it to the small sins we commit every day without even realizing them.
Which by the way are forgiven by just going to church and attend mass.

Peace

 

[Lasting_faith]

Sometimes it is better to pretend. Let say your neighbour have bought a new used car and it both sound and look used, it is better, in my mind, to say that it is a nice or neat car then to speak out loud what you really think. But if you pretend with the intention to gain something you [think] would not get if you are honest and upfront, it is a sin, just like a lie.