This is very refreshing. It is like a breath of fresh air. Thanks for posting it. When one intentionally does not tell the truth, one is invalidating the other person, and one clearly manipulates in order to control. It is not always easy to detect in oneself. Thanks again
In essence, Reality is to be honored, and discovered, as a Mystery that unveils in front of us: “To lie, then, is to treat reality as a thing you can twist to your own ends. And this reveals not just a lack of charity towards others and a misunderstanding of the purpose of language, but also a fundamental refusal to allow reality to form you.”
“Well, consider this. If a teacher asks a boy in front of the whole class if his father came home drunk again the night before, is the boy obliged to answer ‘yes’? No. Exactly, the teacher is abusing his power in asking the boy that question. The honest answer is for the boy to lie, defending his father. And lie for all he’s worth.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace (2000).
When a person with a knife cuts into a child, is it always the wrong thing to do? Hildebrand's ideology would tell us so, because "He [the person with the knife] assumes a lordly position over being, [sic] he deals with it as he pleases and treats it as if it were a chimera, a plaything of his arbitrary pleasure. He denies recognition and response to the value that inheres in being as such, to the dignity that being possesses by its opposition to nothingness. The [person with the knife] does not fulfill the fundamental obligation to recognize everything that exists in its reality, not to interpret black as white, and not to deny a fact."
Now consider that the person with the knife is a surgeon, and he's removing the ruptured appendix of the child, who will certainly die if this surgery isn't performed. It all depends on the circumstances and intent, doesn't it?
I'm not advocating for moral relativism, but the moral judgment being made here by Hildebrand can be misused for evil. The Nazis, knocking on the door of a person who is hiding Jews in WWII, are bent on killing them. The person at the door has the power of their lives in his hands. If he lies to the Nazis, the innocents live. If he tells the truth, they die, and he is now somehow morally superior to the one who would protect the lives of innocent image-bearers? Are you kidding me? There is an incorrect assumption here, namely that everyone deserves to know the full truth. People who are doing evil have no right or claim to the full truth. Anything people can do to stop them is in bounds, with the caveat that it must be within the boundaries of concepts like just war theory.
A crazy leftist can't just assassinate Charlie Kirk because they believe he's doing evil for proclaiming biblical realities about sex, gender, and marriage, and a pro-life person can't go around killing abortion doctors in their homes to prevent the "greater evil" of abortion. The "evils" being espoused in the first case are theoretical. In the second, there is already a remedy available, namely to change the laws surrounding abortion, and change hearts by declaring everywhere that human life begins at conception. But for the person who can do something that immediately affects the lives of others who are in imminent danger, lying to the ones who would perpetrate evil on them is not just permissible, but required. Note that this isn't necessarily the case when trying to protect one's own life, but for sure it is when protecting others, with Jesus teaching that there is no greater love than to lay one's life down for one's friends. (John 15:13)
It takes more doubts than explanations and that is great. What is fact, and what is the way we see and feel the facts? How can we don’t put our own bias into this?
I don’t see how there is a difference between lying, or structuring a response in such a way that the language you use is true, but is still deceptive. The actual product of your words is the same. Someone is deceived. You made an individual believe something that is not reality
Amen. Great piece. When we lie, we dull our sensitivity to sin. Walk in the light and reject the temptation to lie. Even in a court of law we have the right to remain silent.
This is very refreshing. It is like a breath of fresh air. Thanks for posting it. When one intentionally does not tell the truth, one is invalidating the other person, and one clearly manipulates in order to control. It is not always easy to detect in oneself. Thanks again
In essence, Reality is to be honored, and discovered, as a Mystery that unveils in front of us: “To lie, then, is to treat reality as a thing you can twist to your own ends. And this reveals not just a lack of charity towards others and a misunderstanding of the purpose of language, but also a fundamental refusal to allow reality to form you.”
Fantastic piece! Thank you for writing it.
“Well, consider this. If a teacher asks a boy in front of the whole class if his father came home drunk again the night before, is the boy obliged to answer ‘yes’? No. Exactly, the teacher is abusing his power in asking the boy that question. The honest answer is for the boy to lie, defending his father. And lie for all he’s worth.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace (2000).
I agree with this. We should take the command to not bear false witness seriously.
When a person with a knife cuts into a child, is it always the wrong thing to do? Hildebrand's ideology would tell us so, because "He [the person with the knife] assumes a lordly position over being, [sic] he deals with it as he pleases and treats it as if it were a chimera, a plaything of his arbitrary pleasure. He denies recognition and response to the value that inheres in being as such, to the dignity that being possesses by its opposition to nothingness. The [person with the knife] does not fulfill the fundamental obligation to recognize everything that exists in its reality, not to interpret black as white, and not to deny a fact."
Now consider that the person with the knife is a surgeon, and he's removing the ruptured appendix of the child, who will certainly die if this surgery isn't performed. It all depends on the circumstances and intent, doesn't it?
I'm not advocating for moral relativism, but the moral judgment being made here by Hildebrand can be misused for evil. The Nazis, knocking on the door of a person who is hiding Jews in WWII, are bent on killing them. The person at the door has the power of their lives in his hands. If he lies to the Nazis, the innocents live. If he tells the truth, they die, and he is now somehow morally superior to the one who would protect the lives of innocent image-bearers? Are you kidding me? There is an incorrect assumption here, namely that everyone deserves to know the full truth. People who are doing evil have no right or claim to the full truth. Anything people can do to stop them is in bounds, with the caveat that it must be within the boundaries of concepts like just war theory.
A crazy leftist can't just assassinate Charlie Kirk because they believe he's doing evil for proclaiming biblical realities about sex, gender, and marriage, and a pro-life person can't go around killing abortion doctors in their homes to prevent the "greater evil" of abortion. The "evils" being espoused in the first case are theoretical. In the second, there is already a remedy available, namely to change the laws surrounding abortion, and change hearts by declaring everywhere that human life begins at conception. But for the person who can do something that immediately affects the lives of others who are in imminent danger, lying to the ones who would perpetrate evil on them is not just permissible, but required. Note that this isn't necessarily the case when trying to protect one's own life, but for sure it is when protecting others, with Jesus teaching that there is no greater love than to lay one's life down for one's friends. (John 15:13)
"Am I going to live?"
"Hell no bro, you gonna die!"
"Damnit, you could've lied and said yes."
It takes more doubts than explanations and that is great. What is fact, and what is the way we see and feel the facts? How can we don’t put our own bias into this?
I don’t see how there is a difference between lying, or structuring a response in such a way that the language you use is true, but is still deceptive. The actual product of your words is the same. Someone is deceived. You made an individual believe something that is not reality
Amen. Great piece. When we lie, we dull our sensitivity to sin. Walk in the light and reject the temptation to lie. Even in a court of law we have the right to remain silent.
Is it okay to lie? Wdyt? Is it okay for YOU to lie?
Wisdom crieth in the streets.
The limits of theory.
Pail Woodruff
Living Toward Virtue
Getting my compass aligned 65 years ago.
Minor adjustments to my gyroscope