Here follows a review of the the Narnia movie: Prince Caspian.
Of course, there will be spoilers... You have been warned! But I seriously doubt that anyone who's old enough to read this blog could have gotten through life without hearing the plot of most of these books anyway... And if you are, by chance, someone who has never read the Chronicles of Narnia? Shame on you!
Here's a question for all you Christians out there. (Or anyone, really, but I have a good idea what non-Christians would say in response to my question... Just keep reading and you'll see what I mean.)
The topic? Lies. Question? Are there good lies?
Now, I know every Christian's first thought is: Of course there are no GOOD lies! A white lie, so to speak, is still a lie. A lie is something that is in opposition to the truth. Now, here's an illustration: Let's say that you're good at repairing cars, but you don't like to make a habit of letting people bring their cars over for you to fix. You can do it, but you don't want to. It's just a personal hobby of yours. But you have a friend whose car has died and he needs someone to look at it and he asks you for help. You say: "Sure! Bring it over, it's no problem." But deep inside, you really hate the idea of people dropping off their cars for you to fix because they think they can get it done for free (or at least far cheaper). When you agreed to have a look at the car, against your secret thoughts and wishes, you're lying... Right? It IS a problem. You DON'T want to fix it, but you're going to be nice because it's a friend of yours, so you tell him it's okay.
Here's the part where I say I know what non-Christians would say: There's a global mentality out there that likes to believe that you can do whatever you want and say whatever you want as long as it doesn't hurt someone else. If you lie to purposely mislead someone with a malicious intent, or you lie to keep something hidden from someone who needs to be informed of what's happened... That's bad. But if you lie to be nice to someone, then that's okay, because you're not hurting someone. According to them, telling someone it's okay to bring a car over to be fixed, when you are actually thinking otherwise, is okay to do because it's not actually hurting someone else in the process. In fact, you could say it's an attempt to keep the relationship. After all, friends help friends!
Personally, I subscribe to the idea of not beating around the bush. I tell things like it is. I see something, I'll form an opinion, and I'll let you know what my opinion is if you ask. You made a new website that I like? Ask me and I'll tell you I like it. You took a photograph of some flowers that you think is really great, but I think the composition is wrong? Ask me and I'll tell you that I think the composition is wrong. Introduce me to a new friend of yours and then ask me what I think? If I don't think the friend is a good choice, I'll let you know! I see no sense in hiding opinions just to make people feel good or just to maintain a relationship... Friendly, romantic, or otherwise. It makes everyone involved think they're getting to know the person, but what they know are simply lies so that person can fit in a little more easily. For example, let's say that you think homosexuality is wrong. It's a conviction that you (and a lot of other people) have, but it's not exactly a popular one to society in general. As a result, to fit in, you give the appearance of not caring one way or the other. In essence: You lie about yourself in an attempt to fit in. It's misleading, it's dangerous, and it only causes problems farther down the line.
People know me, though... The people I've met online know that I'm going to tell you exactly what I think about an issue, even if it steps on people's toes. I would expect nothing less in return. If I ask you a question about something, I would much rather hear your unbridled, ravaging and scathing opinion on something than hear you lie about it just to make me happy. If I think there's a problem, I'm going to flat out tell you exactly what the problem is. That's just my nature. If I make people uncontrollably upset at me and make them not want anything to do with me anymore? That's par for the course. I would rather be me and have a few friends who like me for what I am than have a bunch of friends who don't know me at all. In addition to all of this, I think it promotes a sense of trust, if you can believe it. By showing people that you're not afraid of telling them what they don't want to hear you make your praises all the more wholesome, because then they KNOW you're not just trying to get on their good side.
Now, people would think that doing something like helping someone out against your own is just the polite thing to do. Someone needs help, you don't want to do it, but you say you'll do it anyway. I guess there's somewhat of a fine line here... Between actually saying that it's no problem when it is, and just buckling down and doing something good when you don't feel like it. But I'm shooting for the scenario where people ask you do you something, you agree, and then they ask if you're sure and you say it's no problem (when it is). I'm shooting for the scenario where someone shows you an accomplishment that they're proud of and ask if you're impressed... And you say you are when you are, in fact, NOT impressed in the least bit. Of course, you need to apply some discretion here... If a child shows you a scribble drawing that they worked so incredibly hard on, you might not exactly be impressed with the quality picture itself, but you're still going to be impressed with their talents... You get the idea. (I hope.)
But that's my question... Is it wrong to tell someone something that isn't true to make them feel good? To be nice? To fit in? Is it lying when you do that? The Bible specifically says lying is wrong and not to do it under any circumstances because it's just... Wrong. It's backwards. It's untruthful. It paints the wrong pictures and leads people to believe something that isn't true. Is it being polite or is it lying?