Is lying something bad all the time?

Shivani Seshan

Why Lying is okay at times.


Have you ever been told by your parent or guardian that you should never lie? However, it’s not always bad to lie because it can help save lives, preserve freedom, and help protect lives.


80 years ago, the Holocaust began, terrorizing every faithful Jew in Germany. If Jews were found by Nazis, they were put in concentration camps. There they would suffer from starvation, from deadly gasses, and death. In order help these people, other German citizens hid Jews from the Nazis in their attics. When the Nazis came to search their houses, the citizens risked their lives and lied about the Jews. This way the Jews were saved from dying.


Lying can help preserve freedom. When slavery was still allowed, slaves tried to escape the tyranny of their owners. Something that helped them do so was the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a series of ‘safe’ houses where slaves could spend the night or when in danger. There was a lot of risk and lying involved because if the owners of the houses were caught, they could go to jail. Lying was involved because the owners had to lie that the slaves were not living in their houses.
Another incident was about a tortoise which was continuously being stoned by some children playing in the street, with an intention to kill it. Its strong shell left the tortoise unharmed. The perplexed children happened to see an elderly looking saint, who was passing by the place of incident. The children explained the situation and asked how the tortoise is unharmed. The saint laughed and said that the tortoise would die if it’s stoned, after turning it upside down. The children proceeded as per that and killed the tortoise. Truth ended up being something harmful at this point of time. A simple lie would have the spared the tortoise with life and saved the children from sins.

A lie which could save few lives is always better than the the truth that may harm millions.


(Shivani is an enthusiastic kid who is very interested in learning new stuffs in her life. Being a 7th grader in one of the reputed schools at US, she spends quality time in learning and appreciating arts such as classical dance, Carnatic music and have a great passion for science.)