Was this lying?

[theBelgianDuke]

(Note: some details have been altered to preserve privacy.)

I sought out a priest for some advice about some Residence Life rules I had broken and whether I should come clean to my RA. The violations in question were having alcohol on campus and some property damage.

In any case, when the priest asked me how I broke the rules, I told him only one of the violations and left out the other. (At the time, I was just embarrassed about one of them.)

My question is whether my omission qualifies as lying.

On the one hand, I was the one who broached the topic in search of advice, and it wasn’t a sacramental confession. So, it seems like the amount of information I wanted to divulge was at my discretion.

On the other hand, I did deliberately leave something out.

So, I’m conflicted. Any thoughts would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

 

[Blue_Horizon]

(Note: some details have been altered to preserve privacy.)

I sought out a priest for some advice about some Residence Life rules I had broken and whether I should come clean to my RA. The violations in question were having alcohol on campus and some property damage.

In any case, when the priest asked me how I broke the rules, I told him only one of the violations and left out the other. (At the time, I was just embarrassed about one of them.)

My question is whether my omission qualifies as lying.

On the one hand, I was the one who broached the topic in search of advice, and it wasn’t a sacramental confession. So, it seems like the amount of information I wanted to divulge was at my discretion.

On the other hand, I did deliberately leave something out.

So, I’m conflicted. Any thoughts would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

Did you actually say something untrue with the intention to deceive?

 

[Crusaderbear]

I believe it would fall under a sin of omission - if it was the breakage (for example, I have no clue…), you may not have wanted to make restitution? So it’s a sin, just not an outright lie…

 

[PaulfromIowa]

Forget about leaving things out when asking advice. There is a huge difference between the two things that you mentioned. You don’t need to tell authorities about having alcohol on campus if no damage was done. If you committed property damage, you should make restitution.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

(Note: some details have been altered to preserve privacy.)

I sought out a priest for some advice about some Residence Life rules I had broken and whether I should come clean to my RA. The violations in question were having alcohol on campus and some property damage.

In any case, when the priest asked me how I broke the rules, I told him only one of the violations and left out the other. (At the time, I was just embarrassed about one of them.)

My question is whether my omission qualifies as lying.

On the one hand, I was the one who broached the topic in search of advice, and it wasn’t a sacramental confession. So, it seems like the amount of information I wanted to divulge was at my discretion.

On the other hand, I did deliberately leave something out.

So, I’m conflicted. Any thoughts would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

Mention it to your priest.
“Last time I confessed I left out… I did so out of embarrassment”

 

[Blue_Horizon]

Mention it to your priest.
“Last time I confessed I left out… I did so out of embarrassment”

It wasnt confession, merely asking for advice.

Personally I cannot see the point in asking for advice if you havent got the strength to reveal all thd facts.

It isnt lying, it isnt sin, its just stupid and goes nowhere.
What exactly was the point of it all.

You got drunk, you did damage.
Be a man and own it.

That is the sin.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

First of all, if you damaged property, you should confess and make restitution.

Second of all, if you had alcohol on campus, and there is some student honor code that would require you to confess that to the school, then you should go by the honor code. If there is no such honor code requiring you to confess the alcohol, you could keep silent about that, but don’t do it again. (I understand there are honor codes at some schools that are really strict, and have no idea where you attend.)

Third of all, you were not in confession (I presume) when you asked the priest for advice. If in confession, it would be sinful to leave out a sinful act that you remember doing just because you were embarrassed.

If not in confession, then it may or may not be technically sinful to leave a detail out when seeking advice. If you left it out with the intent to deceive or mislead the priest, then it would be sinful. If you left it out thinking it not very important to the advice you sought, then maybe not sinful, but you would run the risk then of getting incomplete advice because you didn’t tell all the facts.

Your conscience also seems to be bothering you that you did not tell the priest the whole story. That to me suggests, unless you have had past problems with scrupulosity, that leaving it out might be a sin of omission.

The priest, being a wise man, might very well have guessed what you left out.

Next time tell the whole story and better yet, don’t do any of the bad stuff in the first place, then you won’t have a problem.

 

[jcrichton]

(Note: some details have been altered to preserve privacy.)

I sought out a priest for some advice about some Residence Life rules I had broken and whether I should come clean to my RA. The violations in question were having alcohol on campus and some property damage.

In any case, when the priest asked me how I broke the rules, I told him only one of the violations and left out the other. (At the time, I was just embarrassed about one of them.)

My question is whether my omission qualifies as lying.

On the one hand, I was the one who broached the topic in search of advice, and it wasn’t a sacramental confession. So, it seems like the amount of information I wanted to divulge was at my discretion.

On the other hand, I did deliberately leave something out.

So, I’m conflicted. Any thoughts would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

Hi!

…it’s called selective reasoning.

You may have wanted to engage in the truth; but you qualified what part of the “telling” you would offer; how bad? It depends upon the circumstances… was there personal gain, did you intend to hurt someone else by producing partial revelation, are you engaged in this routinely (keep yourself safe/from responsibility) by pretending to be upfront while deceiving authority?..

Maran atha!

Angel