Message #1063

[Martin]

It is only lying if it is known by the originator to be untrue. If that person believes it,then (s)he is not lying.

I take your point Andrew, but I think there's broadly a bit more to lying than that. One lies to oneself when one deliberately won't face up to an obvious truth. One attempts to deceive others if one deliberately obfuscates an argument, rather than facing up to it and answering the questions it raises truthfully. A person is dishonest when they deliberately ignore or wilfully deny inconsistencies, and their dishonesty is an attempt to perpetuate the deception of others.

When I use the word 'lying' to describe those who insist that the Bible is a consistent whole, I'm talking about the broad dishonesty associated with such a faith position. There will, of course, be people who, having only listened to the dishonest religious side of the argument, and having not really read much of the Old Testament or been made to consider its deficiencies, will honestly believe that the Bible is consistent, but even a small amount of reading or study really ought to make people ask questions. Once a person starts answering those questions by quelling the questions in their mind, they have started on the slippery slope of self deception, from which it's just a short step to attempting to defend that position for the purpose of deceiving others.