# Would you tell the truth in this situation? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 24, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-tell-the-truth-in-this-situation/533643 "2010-03-24T17:52:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-tell-the-truth-in-this-situation/533643/61 "2010-03-25T21:07:11Z")
Now imagine she isn’t his daughter, but she’s a voter. And he’s a homophobic politician keeping his views under wraps in an attempt to get elected. He has no plans to do anything other than what he perceives as best for the country, and that doesn’t involve interfering with private lives. What then? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-tell-the-truth-in-this-situation/533643/62 "2010-03-25T21:24:35Z")
> [@Angry Lurker](#): > > Now imagine she isn’t his daughter, but she’s a voter. And he’s a homophobic politician keeping his views under wraps in an attempt to get elected. He has no plans to do anything other than what he perceives as best for the country, and that doesn’t involve interfering with private lives. > > What then? Who gives a fuck? The situations have nothing to do with one another. I assume you’re trying to make some point about the overpowering and ultimate virtue of truth. Well, my position is that that position is bullshit. It is sometimes not merely irresponsible but actively immoral to tell the truth. If the weight of the evidence is that speaking the literal truth at a given moment will lead to a death or needless trauma, the moral thing to do is to lie. Is truth valuable? Yes. Should we, in general, prefer the truth to deceit? Again, yes. Should we **always** tell the truth and damn the consequences? No. In fact, FUCK no. The truth is NOT AN END. It is a MEANS.No action has any moral value without a context; one must consider the foreseeable consequences, the motives of the actors, among other things. Immanuel Kant was at best a vacuous nitwit, and at worst a goddamn asshole. ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-tell-the-truth-in-this-situation/533643/63 "2010-03-25T22:55:50Z")
I would lie, and if I had to cover it with another lie, I’d do that too. If and when the kid finds out and gets upset, I’ll deal with it then. Normally, I’m all for watching out for future consequences. Not in the this case. The kid is having a serious crisis _now_. I’d do whatever is needed to get her through that. If it means lying, then I’ll lie. We can deal with whatever fallout comes later when she’s not in such a delicate emotional state. Frankly, if she ever finds out, then the worst I can figure is she’ll be angry or upset with me. It’s not about me anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-tell-the-truth-in-this-situation/533643/64 "2010-03-26T04:48:04Z")
> [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](#): > > Lie like a rug… > > …I mean, okay; when I was a little kid, I’d ask my mom if she liked whatever piece of crap art project I had that week, and if it was good, and she always said yes. Now, I am exceedingly awful at arts and crafts… Ironically, I HAVE an ‘arts and crafts’ project I did as a child, in _bible school_ [eeew], just to my left, on the wall. It SUCKS. It’s made of rice, various breeds of beans, popcorn, spagetti, etc. glued to cardboard. If I cooked and ate the whole thing, it would be a minor snack. I don’t know whether I’m keeping it here for my mother’s sake (she kept it in her “my-cute-kids-did-this” “stash-o-shit” for a couple of decades), or for myself. She would never know if I tossed it, today, or if I didn’t toss it. I can’t stand to throw out _ **crap** _ I made as a kid. My mother is NEVER going to notice this “art”, or it’s absence, even if she DOES come into the room in question. She never comes into this room in my house, anyway. WHY do I keep that crap on my wall??? It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since you said \. The kids remember what you say. Don’t lie to them. Be very careful of the “not-exactly-the-truth” you make up for them. Kids are resiliant, mostly, but they are also fragile in unexpected ways. [My spelling sucks, but I’m not going back to fix it.] ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-tell-the-truth-in-this-situation/533643/65 "2010-03-26T04:52:45Z")
> [@Angry Lurker](#): > > Now imagine she isn’t his daughter, but she’s a voter. And he’s a homophobic politician keeping his views under wraps in an attempt to get elected. He has no plans to do anything other than what he perceives as best for the country, and that doesn’t involve interfering with private lives. > > What then? I think you meant to post on the “UHC” threads. You missed, dipsh1t lefty… ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-tell-the-truth-in-this-situation/533643/66 "2010-03-26T05:20:48Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > I think you meant to post on the “UHC” threads. You missed, dipsh1t lefty… \ **MODERATOR WARNING** No personal insults, CH. Thought we’d been through this before. Don’t do it again. \ ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-tell-the-truth-in-this-situation/533643/67 "2010-03-26T05:47:09Z")
> [@Rico](#): > > \ > > **MODERATOR WARNING** > > No personal insults, CH. Thought we’d been through this before. > > Don’t do it again. > > \ Sorry, you’re right. Mea Culpa. I hit the enter key before I read what I wrote. I shouldn’t have said that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-tell-the-truth-in-this-situation/533643.md?page=3)