Is Honesty the best policy?, Some say yes, some say no. What do you say? Rating Options

[BamBamBoogie]

Im arguing this topic in a debate tournament soon. The topic that my team is arguing is "Honesty is the best policy" So I figured it would be interesting to see what you all think about it. I would like it if everyone doesn't get too spammy and stays on topic. Thanks.

[BamBamBoogie]

This is a very easy debate if your opposing the statement "Honesty is the best policy."

The Bible doesn't say "do not lie". It say's "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor". Lying is not wrong. Hurting people with your lies is wrong, slander. Lying about yourself is not necessarily wrong, but more often than not its stupid.

Well, everyone isn't Christian, so....

I suppose you have decide whether or not you think that you ought not to lie should be a universal thing. It's difficult to take a position that it's "sometimes" ok and that it can be justified. I think if someone has good intentions when the lie, it should matter. Last week I had to write my paper on Kantism vs. Utilitarianism and lying came up quite a bit...

What do you think of this situation?
You're walking down the sidewalk, when your friend comes running up to you and says that a crazed man is chasing after him with a knife and that he's going to go home. A few minutes later the crazed man with a knife comes running and asks you if you know where your friend went. You lie and tell the crazed man that your friend went to a bowling alley... but what you don't know is that when your friend was on his way home he thought that the crazed man would go to his home so he decided to hide in the bowling alley.

You lied and your friend died, but your intentions were good. You shouldn't be blamed for trapping your friend, because you had no idea he wasn't going where he said he was. But others would disagree.

That's a good scenario. I don't think you should be blamed either. I do think that a person should lie better than that and simply tell him you don't know.

I think that honesty isn't the best policy simply because it can sometimes cause harm in situations with criminals. Now others may argue that dishonesty may lead to harm as well, but a policy with so many clauses in it can't be best, can it? I think street smarts, along with logic is the best way to go.

[Uronacid]

Well, everyone isn't Christian, so....
That's a good scenario. I don't think you should be blamed either. I do think that a person should lie better than that and simply tell him you don't know.

I think that honesty isn't the best policy simply because it can sometimes cause harm in situations with criminals. Now others may argue that dishonesty may lead to harm as well, but a policy with so many clauses in it can't be best, can it? I think street smarts, along with logic is the best way to go.

Obviously, but religion is generally more restrictive when it comes to moral codes and such. In this case it's not.