How to Tell if Someone is Lying

This is very interesting, even if it isn't directly faith related.  It does say something about our depravity.

From FORBES.

1) If a person is really innocent, they will usually deny the accusation in straightforward language at the beginning of the conversation.

2)  If a subject counters a question with a statement that is true but doesn’t answer the original question.

3)  repeating the question to stall for time

4)  going into attack mode against the questioner

5)  trying to butter up the questioner with compliments

6)  invoking religion (“I swear to God I didn’t take the forty dollars”)

7)  using qualifiers like “basically” and “usually

8)  exhibiting selective memory (“not that I recall”)

9)  showing strange emotions while answering questions, like smiling when denying committing a serious crime like homicide.

10)  act like they don’t understand a simple question

There are also plenty of nonverbal cues to lying, though the authors say that averting eye contact, often thought to signify evasiveness, isn’t one of them, since many of us look away during conversations. More telling: hiding the mouth or eyes, throat-clearing or swallowing, biting or licking the lips, and what the authors call “anchor point movement,” shifting weight and position around the body at rest as a way to reduce anxiety, like fidgeting in a chair. To better observe this tendency, the authors like to have their subjects sit in a chair that has wheels or that rocks and swivels, so that the anchor point movements become obvious to the observer. Another clue: what the authors call “grooming gestures,” like brushing hair or adjusting a tie or shirt cuffs, which can signal anxiety. One last cue, which seems straight from central casting: sweating profusely. If the subject takes out a kerchief or simply mops his brow with the heel of his hand, it can signal deception.

In summary:

1. Look for deceptive behaviors and responses within the first five seconds of asking a question.

2. Someone telling the truth will say immediately and plainly that they did not commit the crime.

3. Liars often respond to questions with truthful statements that cast them in a favorable light.

4. Liars often repeat a question to stall for time, go into attack mode against the questioner or butter up the questioner with compliments.

5. Nonverbal cues to lying include hiding the mouth or eyes, throat clearing or swallowing, grooming gestures like adjusting shirt cuffs, shifting weight around and sweating.