I have two real, serious questions for you: 1) Do you believe that it is it permissible to lie to achieve a goal? If you think it is, what are the limits? Is lying to achieve any goal, secular or religious, personal or communal, permissible? Or are there limits – for instance, lying to achieve the goals of a religious community would be permissible but lying for personal gain would not. 2) Would you be upset if you took an action based on what a leader told you, and you found out after it was too late to take back or fix that action that what the leader told you was a lie? (Not a mistake, not an error, but an actual lie or intentional misleading or misrepresentation of some kind.)
I personally think that other than in absolutely existential circumstances, lying to achieve a goal of some kind, no matter how noble it may be, is never okay. And if a leader lied to me – be s/he religious or secular – I'd be very upset.
But what do you think?