Is lying always wrong and sinful?

  • Thread starter Thread starter imo
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
If someone asks if you have change because they want to buy drugs and you tell them no and you do. that’s a good question. I know of people that will do that.Or you give them some change and they always start hanging around you asking for money as they do everyone else saying they have no money when they do. I someone like that too.
 
The Church teaches that lying in itself is intrinsically evil no matter the consequences. Things are not sinful just because of their perceived negative consequence, but sometimes because the thing is sinful on it’s own. CCC 2485, “By its very nature, lying is to be condemned.”
 
ahs said:
40.png
Barnesy:
I dont think thats very nice.
Click to expand...
Why does that matter?
Click to expand...
Dont you know your supposed to be nice to people? Even to people who dont like you? Thats a silly question. I dont think you mean it. Your making fun of me.
 
Being “nice” is often just a mask for being afraid of the reaction of others, or is a feeble and frail attempt to keep the (false) peace. Christians are not called to fear, and are certainly not called to compromise truth in service to fear. St. John teaches: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love.”
 
The27thPsalm said:
Being “nice” is often just a mask for being afraid of the reaction of others, or is a feeble and frail attempt to keep the (false) peace. Christians are not called to fear, and are certainly not called to compromise truth in service to fear. St. John teaches: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love.”
Click to expand...
Its not difficult being nice. It just means not being nasty to people. If you say something nasty like your baby is ugly then they will be upset. Why would you want to upset some one?? That makes no sense.
 
Yes, but we have examps of very saintly men lying to save other’s lives.
 
Last edited:
Saints and holy people can sin and be in error at times, even many times. Ethics are not always learned by example, and the failures of humans, even those now living in God’s presence as Saints does not change the eternal moral law.
 
I agree about saints can sin. But ethics can be learned by examples. I recently read how John XXIIII organized the issueing of false baptismal certifucates to Jews in WWII. This, at the minimum, shows that the teaching may not be quite infallible. It was debated during the preparation of the catechism and only changed for the final release. If it was so cute and dried, I don’t think that debate would have occurred.

As I said above, the situations where it may be acceptable do not happen to most of us, so it’s best to follow the Church’s teaching.
 
Barnesy said:
Dont you know your supposed to be nice to people?
Click to expand...
When did God ever teach us to be nice? I know I’m supposed to love . What’s that got to do with being nice?

I’m not making fun. I am asking questions to better understand you and that get to the heart of your beliefs.
 
Last edited:
tafan2 said:
I think it [being nice] has a great deal to do with love.
Click to expand...
I disagree. I think lying to someone to protect their feelings can be nice, yet unloving. I think people have the risk of being nice at the expense of truth, and that is not “love”.
 
Last edited:
Well no one can know what Jesus would say or wouldn’t say…
You are called to imitate Jesus but you are not him, so still be yourself. Jesus would probably not be having the sort of party that everyone can’t come to, he is God. You can and are able to have a party with boundaries as you do not have endless supplies or space. No, it is not rude at all to limit the who can come or to tell someone that. Just say, this party is invite only, be kind and polite and say the same thing to everyone who doesnt have an invite, make sure it’s not some who sweet talk you get in and some dont, cos that would be unfair. It’s not rude at all. Christians ought to set boundaries on themselves and their generousity. I am sure Fr Mike explains it better than me in one of his videos on youtube called boundaries but that’s a whole other story. But in answer to your question, definitely dont lie. White lies are lies and lies are wrong, if you do it by mistake go to confession to get the grace to help you stop lying. You can of course be forgiven in mass for venial sins but if you think these aren’t sins, it might be worth confessing them so sanctifying grace will help you get a grip on them. Lies just build up one and then another and another until there are so many you can’t even tell what is real anymore. There is no situation when it is better to lie. Tell the truth or keep quiet. Read the Psalms or proverbs of you dont believe me.
 
Last edited:
I don’t know if it’s always a sin but it definitely isn’t ideal in most situations. Most people lie even if not intentionally. You lie or twist the truth to avoid hurting someone’s feelings, you lie to yourself because you don’t want to face the truth, you lie to avoid conflict, you lie because you aren’t sure of what the truth is etc…
 
I didn’t say being nice was the end all, be all of loving someone. I said it had a lot to do with it. Nice is defined as being pleasant, agreeable, satisfactory (from the dictionary). Loving someone is mostly a matter of our actions towards them: being kind, wabtung the best for them, and being nice.

Be grumpy and unpleasant to your spouse all the time: pretty soon he/she will start questioning your love.
 
Yes, I agree with all of that. And so, being nice is good insofar as it serves love. But being loving does not always equal”nice”, and being “nice” at the expense of truth is not the same as being loving. And this is what I am trying to decipher from the other poster.
 
ahs said:
But being loving does not always equal”nice”, and being “nice” at the expense of truth is not the same as being loving.
Click to expand...
I don’t disagree. But earler, with your rhetorical question, you implied being nice had nothing to do with love, and that I disagreed with.
 
Yes, I overdid the hyperbole and made a point I didn’t intend to make. 😳
 
I even took this a step further. Yes lying is a sin. So many times as a parent, I’ve seen so many misgivings about ‘little white lies’. A lot of parents I’ve met would tell their children we have to leave the park, “because it’s closing” (at 2 p.m…?) or we can’t go get ice cream because the “store is all out” ??? The ten commandments are just that. Maybe I’m wrong, and correct me if I am, but a lie is a lie is a lie.
 
ahs said:
40.png
Barnesy:
Dont you know your supposed to be nice to people?
Click to expand...
When did God ever teach us to be nice? I know I’m supposed to love . What’s that got to do with being nice?

I’m not making fun. I am asking questions to better understand you and that get to the heart of your beliefs.
Click to expand...
So youd tell the lady that her baby looked ugly. If she said do you think he looks beautiful youd say no. But i think what you are going to do now is say some thing like you wouldnt say anything or youd change the subject or do anything except tell the truth because you didnt want to hurt her feelings. So why wouldnt you want to hurt her feelings?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top