Generally speaking, lying is when we present something as being true that is not actually true. And generally speaking, lying is a sin. But not every lie is a sin. Sometimes lying can be our moral obligation. In the following lines, I will give some reasons to strengthen my opinion and states that my claim is right.
Firstly, a white lie can help you not to damage anybody’s ego and self esteem and also make people more happy and courage. Also, a white lie can strengthen the friendship between you and your friend. It can bring people positive attitude and prevent them from being disappointed. Consider this example: You come to your friend‘s house to eat dinner. The food there was terrible. The tacos was too spicy, the pork rib was overwhelmed of tomato sauce, the salad was not fresh, the beef stew with Bordeaux wine was too tough and bitter, the sausage was burned to long, the pizza was too stiff and tasteless, the spaghetti was awful, the lobster was still alive and the fish was very stinking and fetid. You cannot eat anything at all. However, this is first time your friend tries to cook. Of course you can tell the truth that food were extremely terrible and awful. But you want to maintain the friendship and don’t want to let him down or disappointed him. So there is definitely another choice. You will say to your friend: “Thank you very much! Your food is nice and it is great with a beginning cook like you. I enjoy the food today. Try your best and some day you can cook those foods brilliantly and be professional chief!” It is really beneficial for both you and your friend. What about when your wife asks you if you think she is fat, or if a particular dress makes her look fat? What about when someone asks you what you think of their new shoes (particularly when you know they don’t want your honest opinion, but simply want you to affirm what they already believe about them – that they are wonderful!), and you don’t like them? Is it ok to lie to them in order to spare their feelings, to meet their expectations, or to avoid a conflict? Is it more important to be truthful by giving your honest opinion, or to tell them what they want to hear? Finally, consider the common greeting: “How are you doing?” In our culture this is virtually equivalent to “hello.” When I pass by my neighbor in the morning and they say: “How are you doing?” I do not respond with: “Actually, I’m glad you asked. I’m doing horrible. Let me tell you what’s going on in my life.” No, I respond by saying: “I’m doing well. How are you doing?” In fact, I respond this way even if my life is falling apart at the seams. And so do you! Is this lying? After all, you are presenting something as being true which is actually not. Only a sentence that you talk out loud like that will make people to be more motivated and happy to start the new day.
Secondly, a white lie can even save people’s life! Seems ridiculous, right? Actually, that is real. Consider the scenario in which your moral obligation to protect life is pitted against your moral obligation to tell the truth. Protecting life is the weightier moral imperative of the two, and thus lying to protect that life would be the right thing to do. Consider this example: In the World War II, two Nazi soldiers arrested a group of Jews trying to escape from the region that the Nazi colonized. However, they don’t want to give those Jews to their higher command because the Jews will be killed immediately. As a result, they hide the Jews in a small, uncultivated house near the hill that the higher command cannot detect and report that they didn’t see any Jews. This also often happened in the American Civil War (1861 – 1865) when the Confederacy army soldiers hide the black slaves that they arrested.
Finally, a white lie of the doctor can help the patient more optimistic and can recover fast. This is a real case: A doctor is treating for a cancer patient. The doctor knows that the cancer is untreatable and the patient only have one month left to live. However the doctor decides to say a white lie: “Your cancer is difficult to treat. But it is still curable. You must spend a lot of times with your family, having good, healthy diet, read and watch lots of comedies and laugh a lot. You also shouldn’t think weary and pessimistic and also usually let your brain to rest. Remember my sayings? Hope that you will recover!” So the patient is really optimistic about his living chance. After three weeks, amazingly, he recovered and can live for ten years more. That is how a white lie helpful.
To sum up, to be honest is very good and is essential in a lot of cases. However, in some cases, telling a white lie is fine and necessary. However, after telling a white lie, in a suitable time, you should tell the truth in order to maintain relation and cooperative. I agree with the statement of the topic and think that it’s fine to tell a white lie sometime.
