When is a lie a lie?

To speak falsely is not necessarily a lie.  What?!  Yes.  Here's why:  You can only lie about what you know to be true and not true.  The intention of the liar is to divert away from the truth, which implies that the liar knows what the truth is, and wishes to prevent its discovery.

Therefore, you cannot lie about something if you believe what you say is true, even though it isn't.  In that case, you are making an honest mistake.  You are proceeding in good faith in believing something to be true, even though it isn't.  Once proven, however, it starts becoming dishonest if the person adhering to it refuses to accept what it is.  Until that point, it isn't a lie.

The reason for this post is the kind of fuzzy thinking I sometimes see out there.  Take the Bush lied, people died accusation.  Bush couldn't have lied about WMD because NOBODY KNEW.  If those who are accusing him of lying knew themselves, why were they silent before the invasion of Iraq?  I don't recall hearing anybody saying that they positively knew that there was no WMD.  The reason nobody said anything is that they didn't know.  Those who claimed to know were probably lying.  If you cannot produce the proof of your assertions, as these people did not have any such proof, and insist the contrary is a lie, then that has to be a lie in itself.  If you don't know any better, then perhaps it isn't dishonesty, but something else.

I could go on with more examples, but this one is the best known, so I'll leave it at that.

I'd be wary of anybody who claims to know the absolute truth about anything.  Again, I can name names, but I won't.