Lying-Is it always wrong?

[Degree]

There is a website (online movie rentals) and it requires you to be 18 to register with the website. Would it be wrong to claim I was 18 to use the website. I do not see any harm if I use the website when I am under 18.

 

[Larowyn]

I think they want you to have parental permission first. Ever notice how those phone-in TV sales always insist on an adult calling to place an order whenever they sell toys? Same reason.

It would be dishonest to lie to get into that site. “If you have to lie to keep a surprise birthday party a secret, then you’re not very good at keeping it a secret,” I always say.

 

[Starwynd]

Yes, I personally believe it is *always *wrong, but it is sometimes very neccesary. Sometimes you’ve just got to placate a person who is just incapable of understanding your faith. These are people you just can’t talk to at all so about the only thing you can tell them are things like “I have nothing more to say on the matter” because they simply will not hear anything other than what they want to hear, whatever that might be.

 

[RobHom]

Telling a lie…is wrong. Almost 100% of the time it is morally wrong.
I won’t say 100% of the time its wrong, because there are some odd justifications for misleading someone… and those odd times are when its morally right to deviate from the truth by saying nothing at all. But citing the use you are referring to … is dishonest, therefore it is morally wrong.

In so far as using an “out” to cease a potentially volatile conversation about politics or religion…is not morally wrong or telling a lie.

 

[Newbie2]

Yes, I personally believe it is *always *wrong, but it is sometimes very neccesary. Sometimes you’ve just got to placate a person who is just incapable of understanding your faith. These are people you just can’t talk to at all so about the only thing you can tell them are things like “I have nothing more to say on the matter” because they simply will not hear anything other than what they want to hear, whatever that might be.

That really wouldn’t be a lie, as long as you said “I have nothing more to say to you on the matter”.

Telling a lie…is wrong. Almost 100% of the time it is morally wrong.
I won’t say 100% of the time its wrong, because there are some odd justifications for misleading someone… and those odd times are when its morally right to deviate from the truth by saying nothing at all. But citing the use you are referring to … is dishonest, therefore it is morally wrong.

In so far as using an “out” to cease a potentially volatile conversation about politics or religion…is not morally wrong or telling a lie.

There’s always the “Would it be morally acceptable to lie to the Germans if you were hiding Jews in your basement during WWII?” question.

 

[mdgspencer]

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church(2485, 2589): “by its very nature, lying is to be condemned. It is a profination of speech, whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others. The deliberate intention of leading a neighbor into error by saying things contrary to the truth constitutes a failure in justice and charity… Lying is destructive of society; it undermines trust among men and tears apart the fabric of social relationships”
“The good and safety of others, respect for privacy, and the common good are sufficient reasons for being silent about what ought not to be known or for making use of a discrete language.”

 

[Degree]

Thanks all. I decided not to sign up to that website.

 

[gmags2003]

Sign up for the website, but make sure that you inform your parents. Since you are under age, you would probably have to use their credit card to process transactions. If they don’t have a problem and they aren’t internet savvy, I don’t see why not.

 

[Cajetan]

Lying is the most direct sin against God, Who is pure truth. It is always a sin.

 

[Degree]

But what if you are joking around with your friend and (jokingly) you told him a silly lie but later told him you were joking? Is that wrong? Also, for the exams for languages such as French, you have to talk in French about your family and pasttimes. What if you lied?

 

[gmags2003]

But what if you are joking around with your friend and (jokingly) you told him a silly lie but later told him you were joking? Is that wrong? Also, for the exams for languages such as French, you have to talk in French about your family and pasttimes. What if you lied?

I do that (joking with friends) all the time and find nothing subjectively or objectively wrong with it. If you never end up telling your friend that you were joking then yeah, that just isn’t right. As a most recent example, I “stretched the truth” on a standardized test using examples that aren’t 100% factual. Is there anything wrong with that? Not really as it is pretty standard to do so. If you don’t know the right words to use in French, then yes, I don’t see a problem with you “lying” and using words you do know.

 

[Kathrin]

What about acting as if?
Like, acting as if you’re tying your shoe if you’re embarrassed about the real reason you stopped.

Kathrin

 

[gmags2003]

“Acting as if” sounds a lot like pretending or in some cases, ignoring, so nothing wrong there

 

[Kathrin]

Pretending isn’t wrong?

 

[bobzills]

Lying is the most direct sin against God, Who is pure truth. It is always a sin.

In general, Catholicism holds that most lying is a sin. However, according to the Jesuits and according to St. Raymund of Pennafort, a writer on casuistry, there are circumstances where an individual is allowed to make a mental reservation, which really is a lie as many people understand the term; i.e. a false statement presented as true. For example, according to St. Raymund: “I believe, as at present advised, that when one is asked by murderers bent on taking the life of someone hiding in the house whether he is in, no answer should be given; and if this betrays him, his death will be imputable to the murderers, not to the other’s silence. Or he may use an equivocal expression, and say ‘He is not at home,’ or something like that. And this can be defended by a great number of instances found in the Old Testament. Or he may say simply that he is not there, and if his conscience tells him that he ought to say that, then he will not speak against his conscience, nor will he sin. Nor is St. Augustine really opposed to any of these methods.”