We live in a world where people now classify lies into different categories just to justify their actions or, in their opinion, to protect the other person from the weight of knowing the truth. Is that a justifiable reason to tell, like, and can we for any reason categorize lies into different aspects, just as we've got white lies? All the above questions and several others are what I'll be responding to below. I'd also be talking about whether I've ever told a white lie, the reason behind my actions, and what follows it.
To start with, I'd like to let you know that yes, I've told what I considered a white lie before; it's not a one-time thing, and even recently, just less than a week ago, I still told it. And I'd like to tell you about it; maybe you would probably agree with me on the lie I told and whether it's a legitimate reason to tell a lie. So to start with, as some of my friends and family here might have known, my wife recently just gave birth to our beautiful daughter, and this has led to numerous friends and family calling to congratulate us as well as pray for us. Among the callers is the one to whom I told the white lie.
So it happened that just two days before our daughter's naming ceremony, I was called by my uncles that their mother, who happens to be my own mother's elder sister, died after a prolonged illness. I was deeply touched by the loss because she had been like a mother to me for years, treating me just like her own because I stayed close to her. Not long after the call, my mother's mother, who happens to be my daughter's great-grandmother, called to congratulate me and to also inquire if I'm hearing from her daughter (my mother's elder sister, who just passed), and I told her yes, I'm hearing from her, and she's fine.
Even though I know I just lied to her, I can't stand the weight of telling her the truth and what I'll do to her—that her daughter, who she just inquired about, is dead. I know the news that most likely will be fate to her, given her age and what the weight of losing her child would cost her. For that reason I lied to her and later called my mum to let her know what I did and why, and she said I did the right thing. Because even my mother, who happens to be a junior sister to the deceased, didn't handle the news well, how much more so Mother, who's in her 98th year on earth?
Given the nature of this particular situation and several other white lies I've told, I think it's better to tell this kind of lie for the safety of the other person so that the weight of the truth won't lead to more severe or devastating outcomes. That's about it on my take on this topic; as far as I know, lies are lies regardless of why they've been told. Still, I think it's better to withhold the truth than to say it and cause more havoc.
All photos are mine.
