Lying

[Arkadin]

Hi everyone.

I work at a cellphone store and I had a customer come in and wanting to buy a new phone. It wasn’t working properly in the system and I needed to call support to activate the phone. He had to run back to his job (he works at a food place in the same mall and just told me to text or call him when all was set with his new phone).

Well, I get on the phone with a customer care person and provide him the customer’s information. I was dealing with a prepaid phone and not the postpaid phones I normally sell. I told the rep on the other line that my name was the customer’s and not my name. I was pretending I was the customer. I assumed I would be told I couldn’t be the one making the call if I said my real name and that I was trying to help the customer but he had to quickly run back to work. I shouldn’t have assumed this, but I did.

When I was asked about which plan he wanted, I put the guy on hold and called the customer at his workplace and got his say on which plan he wanted.

So, all went well. I lied thinking I wouldn’t have been able to process the activation. Is this considered a mortal sin or venial?

 

[dusza]

Grave matter? Dunno, maybe not. Are you sorry or will you do it again? If you think that it’s no biggie and do it over and over again, then that is likely to deprive you of sanctifying grace (mortal sin). It doesn’t sound like you do, but God wants us to move toward Him, and dismissing even venial sins puts us in danger of moving away (if you’re not swimming upstream, you’re floating downstream). I say, be safe and go to confession (if you’re catholic), and try not to put yourself in a position where you might be tempted to do it again. God bless.

 

[Mel_Stones]

Why couldn’t you have just said you were with the cell phone store - don’t you have to make such calls regularly?

 

[Arkadin]

I don’t know why I wasn’t just honest. I was dealing with the prepaid phones we sell and I was calling customer care and generally Customer Care for postpaid phones only want to talk to the customer and not the sales rep in the store. I was worried he would refuse to go ahead and help if I said I worked for the store and that the customer was not in my presence at the moment since he had to return to work.

I assumed he would deny helping and that was wrong of me. I’ve been upset with myself since I did it. The store doesn’t have a store number for the prepaid service, otherwise I would’ve called that.

I didn’t intend to hurt the customer or CC rep on the other line. I got clarification and consent in which payment plan to use from the customer (I called from another phone to his work place to ask in regards to what payment plan he wanted) before saying which option. So I didn’t do anything behind his back. I just needed to help get the new phone on his account since the website wouldn’t allow such thing for the simple reason that most of these prepaid phones use IDEN towers and only recently getting CDMA-friendly phones so it seems no one ha syet made the change on the website.

I plan to go to confession tomorrow, but I’m trying to distinguish the seriousness of the lie.

 

[Bishop93]

You were doing you’re job…Don’t worry about it.

You can pray and ask God for reassurance.

 

[Lycorth]

“Doing your job” doesn’t excuse one from sin.

Lying isn’t a mortal sin, as far as I know; it’s certainly never been taught as such. But, you of course do have to be sorry for it when you go to Confession; if you’re not contrite, the absolution will not apply and an actual mortal sin (that of sacrilege, because of abuse of the sacrament) will be committed.

The best way to see if you’re contrite: ask yourself if you could go back in time, would you not commit this sin over again? If you answer no, you can be sure you’re genuinely sorry for it. I use that as a guide often, and it has helped me learn the meaning of being repentant.

 

[Bishop93]

“Doing your job” doesn’t excuse one from sin.

Lying isn’t a mortal sin, as far as I know; it’s certainly never been taught as such. But, you of course do have to be sorry for it when you go to Confession; if you’re not contrite, the absolution will not apply and an actual mortal sin (that of sacrilege, because of abuse of the sacrament) will be committed.

The best way to see if you’re contrite: ask yourself if you could go back in time, would you not commit this sin over again? If you answer no, you can be sure you’re genuinely sorry for it. I use that as a guide often, and it has helped me learn the meaning of being repentant.

If someone breaks into your parish and asks where valuables are and you tell him you don’t know when you know good and well you do…Is that bad?

If a undercover cop lies about his identity…Is that bad?

Do you see what I’m saying?

Sometimes you have to do what you have to do…And if your job requires you to activate phones and you have to pretend to be the customer to avoid conflict to do it then I think God understands.

 

[Lycorth]

If someone breaks into your parish and asks where valuables are and you tell him you don’t know when you know good and well you do…Is that bad?

If a undercover cop lies about his identity…Is that bad?

Do you see what I’m saying?

Sometimes you have to do what you have to do…And if your job requires you to activate phones and you have to pretend to be the customer to avoid conflict to do it then I think God understands.

Foiling a thief or protecting one’s life are vastly different than pretending to be the customer.

Even so, a lie is a lie which is still a sin and should still be confessed and avoided whenever possible. We don’t get to say “I think God understands” because that leads to a slippery slope in which we will eventually apply that phrase to anything and everything.

 

[puzzleannie]

Hi everyone.

ISo, all went well. I lied thinking I wouldn’t have been able to process the activation. Is this considered a mortal sin or venial?

it doesn’t necessarily sound sinful but it sounds like bad business practice. please ask your manager for training in handling such situations, it sounds like there was a proper procedure and you just did not know it, so you did the best you could for the customer. If you are not allowed to make such calls on behalf of the customer, don’t do it, because once you know the proper procedure it would be a lie and possibly sinful.

anytime you don’t know the answer to “was my action sinfu.” simply confess it. I told a lie. then move on to the rest of your sins. no backstory, no explanation unless the priest asks

 

[dusza]

You were doing you’re job…Don’t worry about it.

You can pray and ask God for reassurance.

That’s a sin of presumption.

 

[Karmartia]

Actually, what you did was illegal. Please don’t do it again. Next time, find out for sure the phone company’s rules and comply with them, and explain that to the customer. No commission or paycheck is worth lying to earn it.

 

[hellopeople]

Would you have wanted someone to do the same for you? Did you treat this person as you would want to be treated? Did you do this with love? Did it save the customer a hassle? Did you help someone out by doing this? Was the person grateful?

The answer for all of these, in my opinion at least, is YES. So in my opinion it was not a sin and you helped the person. It is pretty clear cut to me that this is not a sin. I can only imagine if you explained this to 90% of priests they would agree with me. Walk in the spirit.

 

[Lycorth]

Would you have wanted someone to do the same for you? Did you treat this person as you would want to be treated? Did you do this with love? Did it save the customer a hassle? Did you help someone out by doing this? Was the person grateful?

The answer for all of these, in my opinion at least, is YES. So in my opinion it was not a sin and you helped the person. It is pretty clear cut to me that this is not a sin. I can only imagine if you explained this to 90% of priests they would agree with me. Walk in the spirit.

Sorry, but lying is a sin. It is not right, especially when nothing serious or life-threatening is at stake.

He can technically be charged with impersonation for doing something like this. A moral free-for-all serves no good.

 

[hellopeople]

Sorry, but lying is a sin. It is not right, especially when nothing serious or life-threatening is at stake.

He can technically be charged with impersonation for doing something like this. A moral free-for-all serves no good.

Except helping someone out I guess

 

[Ron_Conte]

The Magisterium teaches that lying is intrinsically evil and therefore always immoral.

However, lying is only a mortal sin if the intention is gravely immoral (such as lying with the intention of sending an innocent person to prison), or if the harmful consequences gravely outweigh the good consequences, or if there is a second moral object, one that is gravely disordered, such as breaking an oath.

Whoever claims that an intrinsically evil act is jusified by intention or by circumstances or by combination with other acts contradicts one of the most basic teachings of the Church on morality.