Reasons For Lying?

[goodlife]

People lie for many reasons. Some think they are obligated to lie about their abilities in order to get ahead in this competitive world.

Others try to cover up errors or guilt with lies. Still others falsify reports to give the impression that they have done work they have not done.

Then there are those who lie to damage another’s reputation, to avoid embarrassment, to justify previous lies, or to defraud people of their money.( Rev. 21:8)

[andy-hughes]

Indeed pixie - if a native living in conditions not changed since the Stone Age believes he will die when he sees an eclipse - it can happen, because psychosematic influences can diriectly affect the body.

The same principle to 'miracle' cures at Lourdes, where a disability was the result of a mental block not a physical condition - if the individual believes God has 'cured' them, then the lock is unlocked, and they can walk again - but that does not make it a miracle.

[naomi24]

Pixie, the religious lie to themselves. I've asked Goodlife several times to tell me what happened at Easter - but he won't because he knows the various gospels give contradictory accounts of the same story.

[vetuste_ennemi]

For no germane reason I quote a German phrase I once heard: "Wo die füchsen guten nacht".

[sandyRoe]

'Where the foxes goodnight' Is there something lost in translation?

[Octavius]

Where the foxes say goodnight - middle of nowhere ...

[vetuste_ennemi]

I watched a number of excerpts from TV programs last weekend featuring the late Peter Cooke. In one Jonathan Miller cited an incident where David Frost (not a strong swimmer) plunged into a swimming pool and had to be rescued by Cooke. "He nearly sank, just as he rose in life, without a trace" opined the estimable doctor.

[keyplus90]

Once a man came to prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and asked him for a way to get rid of his bad habits. He had a few problems including stealing, drugs, backbiting etc. He advised him not to lie. “Is that all” man asked, and Muhammad (pbuh) said “yes”. Within few weeks that man was almost out of most of his bad habit as when next time he burgled a house, he thought on the way that before that he used to lie to his wife that he bought that stuff and now he was determined not to lie so he went back and left the things where he burgled them from and his other bad habits vanished too due to that one advice.

But then there are three situation where in Islam you are allowed (or somewhat better) to tell a lie as the objective behind those lies is better,

1 – If you are a soldier or someone with vital information and you are captured by the enemy and they ask you to release the information and you know that by doing that you may cause damage that would have everlasting consequences.

2 – (I know this would raise some questions, knowing few people’s nature on AB). As in Islam you are allowed to marry more than one women so if your one wife asks who do you love more then you can say that it is her (even if in your heart you love the other one more) as this question either way can cause trouble and the objective of that lie is to keep your home from trouble where you may end up with a broken family and more consequences for you, your wives and children.

3 – Where the intention of your lie again is to build bridges between two people, two tribes, or even two countries that can first of all avoid hostility and then benefit people on the both sides in the long run and they can have a peaceful life.

[atalanta]

Don't call me a liar because I am not. I do not lie. I have a reputation for utter honesty which I will always maintain. If I do not want to respond to a question, I shall refuse to do so, but I will not lie in any circumstances. When I was quite small I realised that if a person told a single lie, that person might never be trusted again. I am determined to be always trustworthy and reliable. I always told my children they would know what was the truth, because I would never lie to them. And I would never lie for them. And I never have.

[Jemisa]

I lie all the time to enable me to tell a joke cos most of 'em are lies.

Sometimes one just has to lie for anothers sake.

jem

[Khandro]

atalanta; //If I do not want to respond to a question, I shall refuse to do so,// I don't think the Catholics would allow you that easy escape, they cite crimes of "omission" as well as crimes of "commission".
If you are asked a question to which you know the the answer but refuse to do so, isn't this a form of lying too?

[Khandro]

v_e; Your sentence seems to lack a verb.

[pixie373]

Yes. You can lie by omission. Everybody who doesn't spurt out every single thought that comes into their head, is filtering what they actually want to say. The only people I've seen do that have a mental illness.

[Khandro]

v_e; I don't want to nag, but while I'm at it; all German nouns begin with a capital, and so the plural of fox is 'die Füchse' (or 'Fuechse' if you can't do umlauts, ü = alt + 0252) :-)

[goodlife]

I see that many here feel about lying, but their rationale is that lying is not wrong if it does not harm anyone.

So it is true to say that some people live their whole lives as a lie.

[pixie373]

I'm sure a few do, goodlife, although there was no logic whatsoever in that last post.

[gness]

No...you have picked up on what you think and not on what has been said.
Lying can, in some situations, be good..... if it helps another person. Why would you tell a cruel truth when the lie could be a comfort. Should we not try to comfort people if we possibly can?

[jomifl]

GL, you are obviously quite happy to lie, you do it in almost every post. Or is it that you haven't yet discovered what the truth is?

[vetuste_ennemi]

.. and got the nominative plural wrong to boot. I seem to have plunged from middle-brow to ignoramus in only a handful; of posts, Khandro. Gisela Jones would not be impressed.

[KristalB]

goodlife said
'So it is true to say that some people live their whole lives as a lie. '
no, its true to assume some people live their whole lives as a lie'

We all do to a certain extent. No one knows for what, if any, reason we are on this Earth so anything we choose to believe is at best conjecture and worse fiction and lies.

[KristalB]

..and at worst...