The Truth In Lying

     As with most things in my life, I examine complicated questions from thinking about mundane and simple things. I've now been contemplating and questioning the notion that a lie is a terrible thing. This arose from a discussion about Superman: the Movie, and the line where Superman informs Louis that he cannot lie. Yet, can it not be argued that the persona of Clark Kent is the lie?

     Other figures in film and literature are known to lie, even though they've been elevated to a high moral standard. In Star Wars we see Jedi use the art of deception numerous times. In Star Trek, Mr. Spock embraces his Vulcan heritage, and mentions he doesn't tell a lie. Yet there have been several occasions where he has been deceitful  and even fellow characters ask him, "a lie, Spock?" to which he dismisses it not as a lie, but "an error", or "an omission."

     Coming out of fiction and into reality, we see that lying isn't always a bad thing. When your wife asks if she looks fat in a particular dress, the truth may smash her self esteem. Surely one cannot accuse a captured soldier of being wrong when the enemy asks him where the rest of his unit is. He lies to protect the lives of his unit, even at the cost of his own. This is not a selfish act, although deceitful. A lie of omission, if you will. In fact, how effective would any intelligence agency be without lies and deceit. Gaining intelligence has thwarted terrorist attacks and saved countless lives. Is it even practical to think an agent should say, "I am a U.S. agent, mind telling me where you plan on attacking next?" Doesn't work that way.

     So is a lie, in and of itself, a wholly wrong thing? The bible outright condemns lying.

Rev 21:8
8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

Ps 58:3
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth.

Prov 6:16-19
16 There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood,...

Augustine, Aquinas, and many early church fathers defined lying as a statement at variance with the mind. In discussing the ethics of lying they found it helpful to make a distinction between (1) injurious, or hurtful, (2) officious, and (3) jocose lies. Jocose lies are told for the purpose of affording amusement. It is implied that what is said in a joke cannot be a lie: in order to have any malice in it, what is said must be naturally capable of deceiving others and must be said with the intention of saying what is false. An officious, or white, lie is such that it does nobody any injury: it is a lie of excuse, or a lie told to benefit somebody (these are the types of lies that give the most problems to ethicists and moralists). An injurious lie is one which does harm.

We also need to realize that an untruth spoken, isn't a lie. Take conspiracy theorists for example. There are those who believe that we never landed on the moon. Rational people laugh because we know that is not true. Yet in their hearts they are speaking the truth, in so much as it is their faith. They honestly believe we never went to the moon. They speak a falshood, but they aren't "lying."

So what are your thoughts? Is a lie an always bad thing? Or, in my opinion, like most things, it is how it's used.