White lie
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A White lie is a false statement that is given for a good purpose. Telling the truth is a good thing to do. But some times, it can be bad. In that case the better thing is to tell a lie to prevent the bad thing from happening.
An example is telling Nazi soldiers that there are no Jews hiding in a house. This is a lie, but it stops the bad thing of the Jews being killed. Telling a person whose mind is not working well that a family member is alive could be good. They might be very unhappy to hear they were dead. Spies often tell lies as part of their work. If they are working in a good cause this can be the right thing to do. In the Bible, Rahab told a lie about some Jewish spies she was hiding in her home. The Bible says this was a good thing to do.
The problem with white lies is that lies are often told for the wrong reason. People are not very good at seeing the difference between good and bad when they think it helps them to do a wrong thing. These lies are thought by the liar to be "white". An outside person would see them as wrong.
White lies are a part of "situational ethics". This is the idea that rules for life are very important. But there are higher rules that can change a lower one. This happens when unusual things happen. This applies to moral codes such as the Ten Commandments as well as civil laws. Sometimes laws thought to be unjust are not kept because the law breaker thinks it serves some higher purpose.
This article "White lie" is from Simple English Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:White lie.
