What about those little "white lies"?

In Catholic moral teaching, lying is the deliberate attempt to mislead someone by telling an untruth. The Catechism is quite clear how the Catholic Church views lying and the damage they believe deception causes.

Even though the Catholic Church opposes all types of deception most Catholics, like everyone else, routinely engage in “little white lies”. My mother had a problem with “little white lies” because she thought it was sometimes better than telling the truth in order to protect the feelings of others. 

I would often tell her a lie is lie and there is no exception for “white lies” because when you tell “white lies” your goal is to deceive.  She told me hundreds of times throughout the years it is better to say: “The meal was delicious!” – When it wasn’t. “The dress looks beautiful on you – When it did not. “Your perfume smells great – when the odor was foul. “I love your new hair style” – When it was horrible.  It was her way of not being confrontational and keeping peace.    

In recent years I have become faced with a personal dilemma about the sting operations used by those doing investigative reporting. Are those involved justified in lying about who they are and what they are doing to obtain what they perceive to be a better good?

I do not dispute the good that has come from some undercover sting operations, but do the results justify the means. Are pro- life groups justified in lying in order to discover the truth about Planned Parenthood? There have been debates among faithful Catholics on whether lying is ever justified in a good cause.

The Lord denounces lying as the work of the devil. The devil lied to Eve in the Garden of Eden— he convinced Eve to eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil by lying to her.  Is that story literally true or not? I do not know, but I know it teaches a moral lesson that is valuable in 2015. It demonstrates what God does not want us to do.

The Catechism says lying is always wrong. There are no “good lies” that are fundamentally different from “bad lies”; all lies share the same nature—to lead the person to whom the lie is being told away from the truth. The purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others.

There are not degrees of sin in the eyes of God – sin is sin. I admit it is difficult for humans not to justify lying to save the life of an unborn child and it is difficult not to lie to prevent hurting someone’s feelings. But, let an elected politician lie to us we can find no way to justify his or her actions.

Christ instructed us that the devil is “the father of lies,” if we believe that then who is the father of abortion? It’s the same devil and the he doesn’t care if we sin with good intentions or bad intentions his only goal is to get us to sin.

Every “willful untruth” does harm to someone—it harms both yourself and the person you’re lying to.

Paragraph 2489 of the Catholic Catechism has been cited many times by those who want to “justified deception”.  It states no one is bound to reveal the truth to someone who does not have the right to know it.

Using that argument to justify lying can present us with problems. We can keep our mouths shut and say nothing by which we do not reveal the truth to those that have no need to know – not GOSSIP! But paragraph 2489 of the Catechism does not allow us to open our mouths and deliberately deceive another person by telling untruths. It appears how we apply paragraph 2489 makes a difference in determining right and wrong.

Some would argue that if you do not tell the truth as you know it and choose to remain silent that is as great a sin as lying to deceive others. I do not know about that. If you say, “I do not have an opinion one way or the other and you do that is a lie”, if you say I do not know when you do that is a lie”, so I suppose they are correct.  I guess the safest thing to do is say, “I would prefer not to get involved” or “I would prefer to keep my opinion to myself”.

Every decision leads to a new moral or immoral act – God has given us the free will to decide for ourselves.

Paragraph 2488 of the Catechism presents another dilemma it states, “The right to communicate the truth is not unconditional”. It states everyone must live in such a way that his or her life conforms to the Gospel teachings of fraternal love. This requires us to judge whether or not it is appropriate to reveal the truth to someone who asks for it.

What should we consider when revealing the truth: The good and safety of others, respect for privacy, the ‘why’ for our being silent about what should not be known and our use of a discreet language. Our duty to avoid scandal often commands strict discretion. We still must remember regardless of our motives deliberate deception is always a sin.

I confess I personally do not believe anyone is bound to reveal the truth to someone who does not have the right to know it. I have certainly used priestly privileges (not seal of confession) to avoid discussing issues about others or to tell someone I do not think it is my place to comment on that subject.

I also want to add I do not think any form of ‘gossip’ should be acceptable to a Christian. We should not participate in gossip or listen to gossip. A friend who is a habitual gossiper is reason enough to end a relationship.

 We always have options we can remain silent when asked certain questions; we can change the topic; we can excuse ourselves from the conversation. But we cannot lie. If you know Joe is a thief you cannot say “Joe is not a thief.” We can never confirm a known lie to be the truth.

A good lesson to keep in mind comes from paragraph 1789 of the catechism: “One may never do evil so that good may result from it”.

In closing I would like to say: a non-believer can be a liar or be a person that never lies. The moral issue of lying or not lying is not unique to Christians. I believe myself to be a person who fears the Lord, walks by faith and yet I would lie in a life-threatening situation in order to oppose evil. There are several stories in the Bible where this happened to faithful servants of God.

I cannot say it is ever biblical correct to lie, but I am willing to say it is possible. The Bible nowhere explicitly approves of lying and as a minister I struggled through the years about how to teach on lying and some other issues.

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to Him: “… haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that hurry to run to evil, a lying witness who testifies falsely, and one who sows discord in a family” - (Proverbs 6:16–19).

You have to decide the moral issue of white lies based on the circumstances at the time. But, whatever you do, do not foolishly listen to sermons on Sunday and fall victim to guilt because you assume the speaker telling you what to do is practicing the same in his or her personal life. They make daily moral decisions just like you do. 

Why pray for the dead?

The question of purgatory and praying for the dead was a major issue between Catholics and Protestants in the 16th century. The Council of Trent in 1563 reaffirmed the existence of purgatory and the usefulness of prayers for the dead, yet it cautioned against superstition concerning it.

The Catholic teaching regarding prayers for the dead has nothing to do with buying the dead out of purgatory, but unfortunately that is what most non-Catholics believe?  The Catholic Church’s teaching about purgatory (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1030-32) says that all sin has a life of its own and may have bad effects even after the sinner repents.  Repentance includes a desire to repair the damage done by one’s sins, but repentance may not be complete before the person dies, therefore Catholics pray for completion of repentance.  I do not agree totally with that teaching.

I will say this in defence of the Catholic doctrine on purgatory I would not say beyond a doubt that no type of purgatory exists.   I want to believe our loved ones go straight to heaven, but the truth is I do not know that for a fact.  The Bible provides evidence that there can be no imperfections in heaven.   According to the Catechism, most of us who don’t merit hell still need purification before we can enter heaven. 

I believe if there is any type of purgatory it would have nothing to do with punishment of sin.  It would only be a place to put the final touch on our perfection or holiness.  I will go further to say I do not believe it has anything to do with suffering or paying a sin debt.  Christ paid in full all our past, present and future sin debt. 

I do not believe anything we do after a person dies will affect the deceased relationship with God or their status in heaven.  I believe our salvation is determined on earth prior to death, therefore heaven or hell is determined before death.    

Christians and non-Christians alike have both heard the Bible verse ‘to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord’ (2 Corinthians 5:6-8 Plus 9), but what does those verses really mean?  Does it really mean as soon as we breathe our last breath we are face to face with God?  I think those verses have a much deeper meaning.  Is Paul saying - if we are in our earthly bodies we are away from the Lord.  Yes, the Lord is always with us, but not where we can stand face to face with Him and that makes the difference.   I question that Paul was talking about a time line in those verses, but instead was assuring us that when we die we will come face to face with God.  Will that happen immediately, one day later, two days later or upon Christ coming again.  I do not know for sure.  I do know for sure it will happen and believers will come face to face with God. 

Protestants believe Hebrews 9:27 when it affirms that..."it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment."  Protestants feel that prayers for the dead are useless.  They believe once you die judgment follows immediately.  They believe there is no state in between death and judgment called purgatory.   I am comfortable with that teaching.  But, I also find some aspects of Catholicism appealing due to its historicity and great respect for traditions, authority, and the early Church Fathers.

 I guess in the end it is up to each Christian to decide this issue, since there is no definitive answer in the Bible.  Catholics believe in Scriptures authority and its traditions.  Protestants believe in the sole authority of Scripture alone. There are many things in Scripture that remain a mystery to me and will remain a mystery until I am face to face with God.  These mysteries do not create a faith problem for me.  I think some scriptures remain a mystery for all, but some do not want to admit that they do not have it all figured out and are not in control.

Some may be scratching their head and saying I still do not have an answer.  I still do not know what he believes about praying for the dead.  Sorry, I am not sure I know.   I came to believe over fifty years ago that God did not call me to think for you or to tell you what to think.  I sincerely believe God called me to challenge you and provoke you to study scripture not just read it.  Pray over scripture and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you to a conclusion.  

The practice of praying for the dead in my mind naturally implies that we can influence the present state of those who are dead and I do not believe we can.  I do believe we are justified by faith in Christ, and we stand or fall based on our faith at the time of our death.  I believe our righteousness comes from the righteousness of Christ and that makes it hard for me to believe a place like purgatory would need to exist.  I do believe regardless of what you believe about praying for the dead it will not affect where you will spend eternity.   I hope that somewhat clears up my beliefs, but what I believe should not be a defining factor in your deciding what you believe. 

God wanted and wants us to be in unity.  He gave us the church and man was not satisfied.  God then allowed us to have Plan B - denominations.  We were not and are not yet mature enough to come together on the things we have in common and allow our difference to teach us and allow us to grow.  When we surround ourselves with only likeminded people we stifle our growth, but it seems we are more comfortable with likeminded people.