Definitions: (courtesy of http://www.dictionary.com/)
lying - the telling of lies; untruthfulness and telling or containing lies; deliberately untruthful; mendacious; false.
lie - a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood and something intended or serving to convey a false impression; imposture; an inaccurate or false statement.
integrity - adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty and the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished.
Is there ever a time in life when lying can be justified? Can we really lie with integrity? Can lying ever be seen as the right thing to do?
The answers to these questions differ from person to person. It depends upon your personal beliefs, morals and experiences. In this article I found, http://www.gotquestions.org/right-to-lie.html , the writer addresses this debate with support from the Bible. Although on a whole the Bible is against such behaviour, because when it does occur misery and loss follows, this article does highlight two instances when lying ends well.
"...the lie the Hebrew midwives tell Pharaoh seems to result in the Lord’s blessing on them (Exodus 1:15-21), and it probably saved the lives of many Hebrew babies. Another example is Rahab’s lie to protect the Israelite spies in Joshua 2:5."
For me, I know my opinions come from who I am and what I've been through. Lies can be hurtful, lies can break hearts but they can also make someone happy and make a horrible situation just that little more pleasant even if that pleasantry only exists for one person. When my Nan was seriously ill and in care she continuously asked if she could go home (which she couldn't.) Me and my family made the decision to lie and tell her that when she was better she could. Truth was, that was never a possibility. Was it really that wrong of us to tell that lie? It kept her calm in a dreadful situation and telling her the truth would have only made things worse. It is in situations like this that I believe lying is the right thing to do. I am well aware of the hurt lying can cause but I can also support the fact that lying has benefits to.
lying - the telling of lies; untruthfulness and telling or containing lies; deliberately untruthful; mendacious; false.
lie - a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood and something intended or serving to convey a false impression; imposture; an inaccurate or false statement.
integrity - adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty and the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished.
Is there ever a time in life when lying can be justified? Can we really lie with integrity? Can lying ever be seen as the right thing to do?
The answers to these questions differ from person to person. It depends upon your personal beliefs, morals and experiences. In this article I found, http://www.gotquestions.org/right-to-lie.html , the writer addresses this debate with support from the Bible. Although on a whole the Bible is against such behaviour, because when it does occur misery and loss follows, this article does highlight two instances when lying ends well.
"...the lie the Hebrew midwives tell Pharaoh seems to result in the Lord’s blessing on them (Exodus 1:15-21), and it probably saved the lives of many Hebrew babies. Another example is Rahab’s lie to protect the Israelite spies in Joshua 2:5."
For me, I know my opinions come from who I am and what I've been through. Lies can be hurtful, lies can break hearts but they can also make someone happy and make a horrible situation just that little more pleasant even if that pleasantry only exists for one person. When my Nan was seriously ill and in care she continuously asked if she could go home (which she couldn't.) Me and my family made the decision to lie and tell her that when she was better she could. Truth was, that was never a possibility. Was it really that wrong of us to tell that lie? It kept her calm in a dreadful situation and telling her the truth would have only made things worse. It is in situations like this that I believe lying is the right thing to do. I am well aware of the hurt lying can cause but I can also support the fact that lying has benefits to.
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