It is a sin to lie, even to Planned Parenthood

You are of your father the devil, … truth is not in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof. – John 8:44

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has accepted St. Augustine’s definition of a lie: “A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving.” (CCC 2482, De mendacio 4,5) Lying is a direct offense against the truth, indeed it is the most direct offense against the truth. Therefore, it is not merely a sin against the individual to whom the lie is told, nor is it only against the society whose stability is harmed, but it is a direct offense against God himself, who is Truth. “By injuring man’s relation to truth and to his neighbor, a lie offends against the fundamental relation of man and of his word to the Lord.” (CCC 2483)

Yet, though nearly all people will admit that lying is generally wrong, there seem to be few who will hold that lying is always wrong. There are many cases and examples which seem to challenge the Church’s teaching that it is always wrong to lie – here we can name the famous case of the Nazis searching for Jews hidden in the attic.

Setting aside these very interesting case studies, we must first consider the teaching of the Church (which is founded in Scripture, Tradition, and also philosophy) – to this end, we will look to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and also to the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas. Having examined the foundations of the total prohibition of lying, we will consider the particular case of lying to Planned Parenthood in order to expose certain illegal (and immoral) practices of the culture of death.

To lie is always a sin

St. Thomas states that a person lies when he “intends to say what is false” (ST II-II, q.10, a.1). To lie is to state what is contrary to what one holds in the intellect to be true. In order to understand why St. Thomas (and the Church) believes that it is always sinful to lie, we must know something of how he understands language.

“Words are naturally signs of intellectual acts,” that is, words convey what is thought by the mind. Thus, for words to convey something that is contrary to what the mind thinks (i.e. to lie) is “unnatural and undue.” Thus, even Aristotle could say that “lying is in itself evil and to be shunned.” (ST II-II, q.110, a.3)

The Catechism of the Catholic Church also condemns lying unconditionally: “Lying is the most direct offense against the truth. To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead someone into error… The gravity of a lie is measured against the nature of the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by its victims… By its very nature, lying is to be condemned. It is a profanation of speech, whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others… Since it violates the virtue of truthfulness, a lie does real violence to another… Lying is destructive of society.” (CCC 2483-2486)

Objections answered

Having seen the clear condemnation of all lies, by both the Church and also philosophy, we are certain that lying is always and everywhere wrong. Moreover, we must be clear, there is no room in Church teaching to allow for a justification of a lie, even under the claim that the person to whom the lie was told had no right to the truth. Lying is not merely an offense against other men, but an offense against God – thus, the moral evil of a lie is determined not so much by the particular circumstances of the person to whom the lie is told, but by the fact that Jesus is the Truth.

Hence, if we come to a case in which someone has no right to knowledge of a particular truth (as, for example, the sins of another), the proper response is not to lie about that truth but instead to simply remain silent. While we are not obliged always to tell the whole truth, we must never tell a lie which is contrary to what we know to be true. One cannot do an evil thing, even with the intent of bringing about some good.

We can now consider the most popular objection to the Church’s prohibition of lying, the case of the Nazis looking for the Jews in the attic. The objection runs as follows: A man is hiding Jews in his attic during the reign of the Nazis in Germany. The Nazis come to his house and ask the question, “Are there Jews hidden in your attic?” What is the man to answer? It would seem (so the objection claims) that he can lie and tell the Nazis that there are no Jews in his attic.

First, we must assert that this would indeed be a lie – for the man would be telling what he knows to be contrary to the truth with the intention of deceiving. We also admit that the Nazis have no right to that knowledge (i.e. they ought not know that there are Jews in the attic), but we affirm that the moral evil of the lie is determined not by the circumstances of the Nazis, but by the simple fact that the man knows one thing to be true and yet says something contrary to this (i.e. he says, “There are no Jews in my attic”). This is a sin, it is a sin against the Nazis, against the German people as a whole, and against God – it is a direct offense against the truth.

What then should the man do? On the one hand, he most certainly cannot lie; on the other hand, it seems that he cannot tell the truth – for it would seem to be sinful to co-operate with the Nazis in that manner. We must affirm that God does not need our lies in order to bring about the victory of truth – lies can only formally contribute to evil, never to good. Thus, we must trust that either a) the Lord would give an illumination at the moment so that the man could find some way to save those Jews without telling a lie, or b) it is the time for martyrdom. If the man could find no way to save the Jews through some clever action (which did not involve lying), the only thing left for him would be simply to remain silent – an action which would most likely gain for himself the crown of martyrdom (if he acted in Christian charity).

Lying to reveal the sins of Planned Parenthood

We now come to the extremely relevant question of lying to Planned Parenthood. It is well known that there have been a number of “sting” operations by pro-life workers who have posed either as young pregnant girls or pimps or any number of other characters. These individuals have then (with hidden cameras) entered Planned Parenthood facilities and, allegedly, have recorded staff members giving illegal advice – either covering up the age of the girls, or even aiding underground (and underage) prostitution rings. These pro-life workers have very explicitly lied – about their age, or their occupation, or their physical condition (claiming to be pregnant). We maintain that, though the intentions of these individuals may be good, these actions are sinful – indeed, they are gravely disordered.

Some (even Fr. Frank Pavone, on Catholic Connection with Teresa Tameo on the morning of February 2^nd ) will claim that it is morally justifiable to lie to Planned Parenthood in order to expose the illegal activities of that organization. They will claim that the lie is justifiable because we are “at war” with Planned Parenthood. Here we make a twofold response: first, even in war, it is sinful to lie; second, we are not at war with Planned Parenthood. War is a conflict not between individuals or even between various groups of individuals, but between nations. The pro-life movement, technically, is not at war with the culture of death – if we were at war, it would be justifiable for individuals to kill abortion doctors; but it is not, since we are not at war. We are in a great struggle, a struggle which is far worse and far more costly than any war which the world has yet faced.

Others will justify these lies by asserting that the people at Planned Parenthood have no right to the truth. We have already dealt with this objection above – moreover, this case is radically different from that of the Nazis, since the pro-life workers are taking the initiative in telling the lies (whereas in the case of the German hiding the Jews, he is unwillingly being asked the question by the Nazi).

According to the teaching of Christ and of his Church (and of the philosophers), lying is always a sin. These “sting” operations involve lies. Therefore, these “sting” operations against Planned Parenthood are sinful. Indeed, we maintain that they are gravely sinful, since the lies are told with the intention of causing serious harm (imprisonment and defunding) to Planned Parenthood and its staff. Moreover, and this is very serious, the lies of these pro-life workers are formally co-operating with the staff of Planned Parenthood in sin – for the lies are told with the intention of getting the staff to agree to gravely sinful actions (which, in the end, are not actually carried out).

Reparation is required

“Every offense committed against justice and truth entails the duty of reparation, even if its author has been forgiven… If someone who has suffered harm cannot be directly compensated, he must be given moral satisfaction in the name of charity. This duty of reparation also concerns offenses against another’s reputation… It obliges the conscience.” (CCC 2487)

These well-intentioned workers of the pro-life movement have committed a grave injustice against Planned Parenthood, society as a whole, and also God himself. Clearly, it is quite likely that their good intentions will mitigate the level of culpability, but the objective requirement of reparation still remains.

What can the pro-life movement as a whole do in reparation for the sins of these members? Perhaps the evidence should be discarded – as it was obtained through immoral means, it would seem best to avoid any use of it. Moreover, the leaders of the pro-life movement should condemn these “sting” operations and insist that they be carried out no longer. This would also serve as a great witness to the moral uprightness of the pro-life movement and would be a public affirmation of the Truth.

The temptation to despair

After thirty-eight years of terrible struggle, there is danger of despair. Individuals in the pro-life movement may be tempted to lose hope, to think that (without radical actions) abortion will never end. This seems to be at the root of the “sting” operations – no longer content to use the normal and morally acceptable means which God has provided, certain pro-life workers are taking matters into their own hands and even attempting to justify objectively sinful actions for the sake of some greater good.

But we must remember that the victory of the Culture of Life is not essentially something within human powers. Death has reigned on earth since the Fall, and it is only conquered through the God-Man, Jesus Christ. He alone will win the victory for Life, he alone will overcome death in the world. It is Christ who will defeat Planned Parenthood, we can only participate in his work. But, Christ is the Truth – and, if we act against the Truth, we act against Christ. If we live not in the Truth, we are no longer pro-life workers, but have already begun to participate in the culture of death.


[please see my latest post on this subject: http://newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.com/2011/02/lying-to-planned-parenthood-or-is-it.html]

Thanks to Iosephus Sebastianus and a devout Catholic layman for having recommended the concept for the post.