Ministers of Vengeance

The Good Lie
In the realm of disseminating false information, is lying and deception
always immoral? Is there a difference ethically or morally? Jonathan lied
to protect David, Rahab lied to protect the Hebrew spies, Joshua and
Caleb. Hushai lies to a rebellious commander, and Elisha lies to an enemy
commander. In all of these situations God is helping the deception to
work. There are also believers helping Paul escape arrest by letting him
down out a window on a wall. I’m sure when the guards came to their
house asking for Paul they didn’t say “We heard you were coming for
Paul, so we let him out and down a back window of the wall to help
evade capture.”
Apparently, not all lying is in the category of the 9th commandment
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Maybe all
liars having their part in the Lake of Fire has an exception clause. The
exception is dependent on who’s lying to whom and why. The false witness
commandment is to protect a neighbor from unprovoked or unwarranted
harm. To foster trust in the people you live with and depend on. Our
examples were not of people lying as selfish acts to protect themselves
or hurt the innocent. Neither is the false report designed to implicate an
innocent person in a crime. Nor were they to protect a guilty person from
just judgment. Therefore, not all lies or deception is a sin. Yes, I really just
said that. Don’t worry; there is one more shocker to come before this chapter
is over. I have prayed and am solely responsible before God for the contents
of this book. I am hoping not to lose my ordination in how I address this and
other controversial topics. Even if I do, I stand by my words.
“Nazi massacres—especially of the Jews—were thought
to legitimize the harsh actions of resistance fighters.
Similarly, when the Cold War set in, supporters of the
CIA argued that any notions of “fair play” had to go out
the door. Thus, we may be led to believe that successful
acts of subversion and espionage can admit to no
strictures…Such thinking is unjust on the face of it and
dangerously close to the sort of language we hear from
modern terrorist groups” (Cole, 2008, Whether Spies Too
Can Be Saved).

Remember fair is about letting the enemy have a chance. War and Law
Enforcement actions should not be fair but must be just and honorable.

Fair would be like letting the criminal get a head start on a foot pursuit,
or in not starting to search for an escaped convict for a day or two, giving
them a fair chance of not being caught. That would be crazy. But, without
Godly limits on what we do, we will act dishonorably and risk becoming
godless and inhumane in our actions. This damages our souls, and bodies
terribly. The limits God places DO NOT LIMIT our ability to accomplish
the mission. These limits protect us, and our enemy from victimization,
or wounding in some wicked fashion. On the contrary, accepting Holy
Spirit help gives you an unfair advantage to be victorious, and remain
honorable.
Examples of participation in lying to protect spies, authorization
of spies to lie, and the requirement of a spy to lie, has the Biblical
endorsement. A woman hid two of King David’s spies from Absalom’s
men. She hid them in a well, covering it with a tarp and corn. She sent
the men of Absalom in another direction, thus protecting the spies. In
this scenario, the civilian non-participant consented to actively join ‘the
game’ and participate in protecting the interests of the rightful authority,
King David. If she were caught, her punishment would be as a combatant.
She could be considered a partisan or underground operative. She is
undoubtedly a patriot of God and country.

Nothing but the Truth
Those who believe as the great Reformation preacher, and founder of
Calvinist thought, theologian John Calvin. Stand in opposition to this
interpretation. Calvin, speaking about the midwives who lied to Pharaoh,
is not convinced of the obligation to lie, even though they saved countless
baby boys. Calvin insists that ‘whatever is opposed to the nature of God
is sinful,’ it is vitiosus (morally defective). He adds as an outcome to
this theory that all feigning (simulation), whether in word or deed is to
be condemned. We have already seen this is not true, but I think it is
important to address his objections to a doctrine of violence inclusive of
lying because not all lying is a sin.
“Calvin reiterates, one can only conclude that the
midwives lied and that ipso facto, they sinned because
deception is in itself displeasing to God. The Lord does
not reward the midwives for their lying, but only because
they feared God and resisted Pharaoh’s murderous plot”
(Blacketer R.A., 2010).

Of course, I am in stark disagreement with Calvin. The midwives
because of their respect for God, did not fear the wrath of Pharaoh, and
dutifully lied to protect the innocent. They engaged in lying of the sort
spies engage in, protecting secrets or altering of information, which could
endanger or harm many innocent citizens. Mendacium Offciosum is
Latin meaning the dutiful lie. The dutiful lie is not a sin.
To seal the deal concerning objections of Christians who adhere
to Calvinist teaching on lying, consider this. Calvin also addresses a
holy lie or dissimulation (to camou¬flage or conceal). Calvin said that in
battle certain kinds of deception are acceptable, which did not break an
agreement of peace. So, Calvin backs down and creates exceptions to his
blanket assertion all lies are a sin, even the midwives lie. This also relates
to the issue of assuming a secret identity, the living lie. Where you not
only withhold information, you actively misdirect the perceptions of
others to your true nature and intents.

National Secrets, Seduction, and Misdirection

“Indeed, creating a politically efficacious persona rests, at
least partially, on the pragmatic value of dissimulation,
a truth John Adams savers when he cautions about the
‘‘Damage, Danger and Confusion’’ that ‘‘Enemies’’ and
‘‘indiscreet friends’’ would wreak if certain information
were publicly divulged” (Murray K., 2012).

Furthermore, Heckwelder, a seasoned early American Moravian spy, who
started out a pacifist, says after seeing a dark side of humanity “…war
makes peace, writing that ‘No peace can be made without a Campaign’ ’’.