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Liars and the Lying Lies They Tell

Doc

Member
Real Person
The Bible is clear that lying is a sin and is displeasing to God. The first sin in this world involved a lie told to Eve. The Ten Commandments given to Moses includes “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16).

In the early church, Ananias and Sapphira lied regarding a donation in order to make themselves look more generous than they really were. Peter’s rebuke is stern: “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?” God’s judgment was sterner: the couple died as a result of their sin of lying.

Colossians 3:9 says, “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.” Lying is listed in 1 Timothy 1:9-11 as something practiced by the lawless. Furthermore, liars will be among those judged in the end (Revelation 21:8). In contrast, God never lies (Titus 1:2). He is the source of truth. “It is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18).

Jesus called Himself the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), and He expects those who follow Him to be people of truth. The truth is to be expressed in love (Ephesians 4:15), offering hope to those seeking redemption from the lies of the world.

The Bible nowhere presents an instance where lying is considered to be the right thing to do. The ninth commandment prohibits bearing false witness (Exodus 20:16). Proverbs 6:16-19 lists “a lying tongue” and “a false witness who pours out lies” as two of the seven abominations to the Lord. Love “rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). For other Scriptures that speak negatively of lying, see Psalm 119:29, 163; 120:2; Proverbs 12:22; 13:5; Ephesians 4:25; Colossians 3:9; and Revelation 21:8. There are many examples of liars in Scripture, from Jacob’s deceit in Genesis 27 to the pretense of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. Time after time, we see that falsehood leads to misery, loss, and judgment.

There are at least two instances in the Bible where lying produced a favorable result. For example, the lie the Hebrew midwives tell Pharaoh seems to result in the Lord’s blessing on them (Exodus 1:15-21), and it probably saved the lives of many Hebrew babies. Another example is Rahab’s lie to protect the Israelite spies in Joshua 2:5. It is important to note, however, that God never condones these lies. Despite the “positive” outcome of these lies, the Bible nowhere praises the lies themselves. The Bible nowhere states that there are instances where lying is the right thing to do. At the same time, the Bible does not declare that there is no possible instance in which lying is an acceptable option.

The question then remains: is there ever a time when lying is the right thing to do? The most common illustration of this dilemma comes from the life of Corrie ten Boom in Nazi-occupied Holland. Essentially, the story is this: Corrie ten Boom is hiding Jews in her home to protect them from the Nazis. Nazi soldiers come to her home and ask her if she knows where any Jews are hiding. What is she to do? Should she tell the truth and allow the Nazis to capture the Jews she was trying to protect? Or, should she lie and deny that she knows anything about them?

In an instance such as this, where lying may be the only possible way to prevent a horrible evil, perhaps lying would be an acceptable thing to do. Such an instance would be somewhat similar to the lies of the Hebrew midwives and Rahab. In an evil world, and in a desperate situation, it may be the right thing to commit a lesser evil, lying, in order to prevent a much greater evil. However, it must be noted that such instances are extremely rare. It is highly likely that the vast majority of people in human history have never faced a situation in which lying was the right thing to do.

Blessings

Doc
 
Even in the toughest situations lying is not the answer. I recall a story of a WWII spy who would never lie. Once he was smuggling a radio to a resistance group in France, by bus. As he got on the bus a soldier asked him "What's in your suitcase?". He replied "A radio transmitter". The soldier cracked up laughing at this joke, slapped him on the back and let him board the bus...

Think about that for a moment. It takes 10 seconds to get someone to pop open a suspicious looking suitcase to check what is inside. What else could he have said to avoid the inevitable inspection? The truth was possibly the only thing that could have saved his life.
 
So where does lying about polygamy come into play? What is your thoughts on this? I have always remained open and it has brought me blessings and also brought me much heartache. Yet I believe to hide either of my wives would make me feel as if one is a dirty secret in which she as well as my self would always feel as if we are wrong. When we must lie and hide things you cannot truly be 100% happy because unless you go to another town you can never truly act and BE married! But really what are your views on these things?
 
Gillfam said:
So where does lying about polygamy come into play? What is your thoughts on this? I have always remained open and it has brought me blessings and also brought me much heartache. Yet I believe to hide either of my wives would make me feel as if one is a dirty secret in which she as well as my self would always feel as if we are wrong. When we must lie and hide things you cannot truly be 100% happy because unless you go to another town you can never truly act and BE married! But really what are your views on these things?

I think that really speaks to the heart of what it means to be 'married' to myself, being married to me is to be united as a family and to be seen as a family, so, I would question whether keeping a wife as a secret is a hindrance to that ideal? I wouldn't want to be a secret, I would definitely not feel like a wife, but feel like a mistress and that is not conducive to a healthy married life.

B
 
Personally, I feel the same as Bels - I would not wish to hide, for two main reasons:
- Each wife needs equal recognition as a wife.
- We will never change society if everyone who comes to this truth and practices it insists on hiding what they are doing like it was something "dirty". Nobody will know it is an option if they never see it.

But those are my personal opinions as a monogamist currently. I have never been through this in reality. Everybody's situation is different. Some women may not need openness to feel equal recognition. And the consequences of going public could be very difficult in some places, for instance where it is illegal. So it's tough, and I certainly don't look down on anyone for hiding this, they generally do this for the benefit of their own family. Eventually though we're going to need to have a decent number of open families if we wish to have any impact on the wider society.
 
We have done both and here's what I learned. With a "secret wife" we always fought. she was always upset. Thus we ended up going public. At first it was hard, but I am a big boy. So I am accountable for my actions. I went to jail for it, but I am glad I did! Cause guess what they couldn't say I was hiding anything either. We live openly now as well and have been threatened to be jailed. Like I told them they are going to do what they must. I am not afraid of jail I am however afraid of hurting either of my wives by making them feel like one is less of a wife then the other! So to me personally they have taken my kids over it I got nothing left for them to take, but my freedom and they will let me out eventually and guess what I will go right back to my wives and that is life. Yes it may hurt my wives to see me in jail but at least I feel like I am a good husband by not making either a dirty secret!
 
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