Is lying ok?

My wife and I once had a long running disagreement over a former paint colour on our house. She saw it as grey but I saw it as blue. I would probably concede, though grudgingly, that she was likely to be right because her eye for colours is better than mine. But the shade of colour in question was certainly open to opinion; after all everyone sees colours differently. What wasn’t open to question was the fact that the colour had been painted there. 

This little true story is a kind of parable, and not a particularly subtle one at that, for what I see going on in the world around me. The problem is especially visible in the political arena. 

Let me explain. Our world, particularly in politics, is a complex place with many opinions expressed in increasingly partisan or prejudiced ways. Thus a particular occurrence can be seen in totally different ways depending on the viewpoint of the beholder. That’s a lot like the dispute between my wife and I over that paint colour. But increasingly it seems to me that basic facts, which do not have any ambiguitys, are treated as matters of opinion; or worse are dismissed as irrelevant.  Or even worse than all that, basic facts are lied about. In my little story the house was painted. No ifs or buts or claims that it wasn’t. 

When facts don’t matter and lying becomes standard practice we have a problem. God says in the bible that He hates lying – see Proverbs 12:22, “The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in people who are trustworthy”. No confusion there.

Lying is not ok!