When is It Okay to Lie?
Jean Valjean, the hero in Victor Hugo's novel Les Miserables, after being released from prison finds himself homeless. Everyone he meets treats him with disdain and refuses to help him.
Finally he meets a Bishop, Monseigneur Myriel, who welcomes him into his home. The Bishop feeds him and offers him a bed for the night. Valjean repays this kindness by stealing the Bishop's silverware.
Valjean is eventually caught with the stolen silverware and the police brings him back to face the man from whom he stole from. With Valjean and the criminal evidence in front of him, the Bishop tells a lie.
He tells the police that the items were not stolen and were, in fact, a gift.
Valjean is not arrested. He is given a chance to repent and reform.
Lying is wrong. A sin. The Bishop knew this.
And yet, he lied as an act of mercy. Valjean's crime demanded justice. Yet the chance of justice to be fulfilled was killed through an act of benevolence.
And thus, justice was trumped, truthfulness was trumped by mercy.
Mercy enacted through the telling of a bold-faced lie.