selective truth

[smellycat]

i notice a lot of people have developed this sindrone.do you think its morally correct to keep information back for your own gain.?

[Lily]

What syndrome and how have you noticed it ?

[smellycat]

meaning they use all they can to get there own way.

[streetsinger]

Could be people hold back the truth for fear of hurting somebody, or that it is unnecessary to reveal it, for example, Dad spent his child's present money on drink. To reveal this would not only cause the child to think badly of his dad but show him his loss thus diminishing his joy over the Christmas. Better to withhold the info to give dad a chance to make amends.

[Lily]

Well I feel the same Trev as reagrding my thread " Is lying always a sin ".



Many people say, always tell the truth but what about times when we have a right to some privacy in our lives ? What I mean is, many times I was asked by people were things ok at home, they weren't. But going by the criteria of always telling the Gods honest truth, if that had applied ( apart from not wanting to hurt people I love ), does that mean that everyone has the God given right to know whats going on in our lives ?

Ok, you can decline to answer but would some people class that as lying also because some say its as bad as lying if you keep things back.

Apart from the sense of shame a woman feels when she is being abused ( you know, it's all your fault isn't it ? ) because you feel if you were a better person and Wife he wouldn't hurt you, do people have the right to know your business anyway ? If I had told the Gods honest truth before I was ready to see I was worth so much more than that, everyone would have known my business and at that stage I would have defended him anyway. You can't be convinced it's all your fault and not defend the person. To have not defended him would have been in total contradiction to me thinking it was my fault and to defend him would have been a lie also, so I was in a no win situation really.

I do think we have the right to protect our privacy even if we do hold something back.

Obviously though, if we know what we are holding back is going to endanger anyone, then thats wrong.
I would hope that I'm right in my thinking for all the years I kept things back, and God considers the intent behind it.

[smellycat]

what about political circles.?

[Lily]

I think they have a duty, if they are asking for my vote which in turn will possible effect my life, to tell the truth.

Obviously, their personal lives and telling the whole truth would depend on that was going on in their lives. What I mean is, say for example, someone is asking for your vote to make them prime minister and he's cheating on his wife and when it comes out they say " but thats my personal life it has no bearing on me asking for you're vote ". Well in my opinion, it has a very strong bearing on it. To cheat on you're wife you have to be a liar and if someone will lie to his wife, he won't think twice about lying to me = they don't get my vote.

[Galaen]

I agree with you Lily, we are entitled to our privacy and I see no problem with telling someone 'It isn't something I want to talk about at the moment', this would not be letting a lie neither would it be only telling part of the truth.

As you say about politicians, they are in the public eye and working for us, therefore we have a right to know what they are doing and saying etc. If they cannot conduct their private lives correctly how can we be sure they will conduct their public lives correctly - or indeed even be able to know where the dividing line is between their private and public lives.

[streetsinger]

The reason we have a house church is because I was honest about my relationship in a Methodist church. I stood on the word "confess your sins to one another and I will heal you". Well I confessed and they took sides, making it impossible for us to fellowship with them, hence our house fellowship that has been in existence for over twenty years, and we were healed.