Lying

Fred Peatross has a useful short piece on the ethical problem of lying. He tells of lying at Ukrainian customs by not declaring medications, knowing that if he told the truth they would be confiscated by corrupt officials. Against this he pitches Proverbs 12:22, ‘The Lord detests lying lips’, but in its favour Exodus 1:15-20 where the Hebrew midwives are commended for lying to protect the baby Moses.

It reminded me of when I left Israel/Palestine in 1989 after a three-week trip for theological students. We were told that Israeli security would ask us whether we had had visited any Palestinian homes (and remember how hospitable they are). The Christians who had hosted our visit advised us to say, ‘No.’ We were told that if we admitted to entering the homes of Palestinians, we would be asked for the name and address. If we supplied it, that person would then be investigated by the Israeli tax authorities. If they were behind with their taxes,the tanks would roll in and flatten the dwelling.

Fortunately, I had not been invited into a Palestinian home while I was there, but I still think the right Christian thing to do was to lie. Whatever Proverbs says, the Ten Commandments do not prohibit lying but ‘bearing false witness against your neighbour’, which is not only about truth-telling, it is also about justice. So small matters about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq fall here, for example. There remains the fundamental obligation to honesty, because it is linked with integrity and reliability. But like Fred, I am convinced it is still occasionally the Christian duty to lie for the sake of mercy and justice. What do you think?

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