Project Phoenix Forums Project Phoenix Enter the Matrix Dilemma - Telling a Secret

Your friend tells you that they committed a crime. They explain that they are having trouble sleeping at night and feel you are the only one they can trust with their confession. A few days later, you read in the paper that someone has been arrested for your friend’s crime. Do you:

I wouldn't rat my friend out like that. On top of that, the sleepless nights and them living with what they did is punishment enough. Poor guy who got arrested though, I'd just hope the court system doesn't suck as much as it probably would and the guy gets proven innocent.

it means a great sum to me when one of my friends or just anybody confides in me, and for my friend to have trusted me with such a thing I wouldn't want to betray them like that. Although I would most definitely try to steer them in the right direction, there is only so much I could do. Only they can come clean in the end, it's definitely not my place to tell their business out like so.

I chose to go to the police and tell them what I know because you can't withheld the truth from the police and if you do you could get in trouble.

I chose to encourage them to turn themselves in because it would be the right thing to do and when they do turn themselves in I wouldn't feel guilty for turning my friend in.

if he got himself or herself into it they can get out of it.

i feel like if my friend commited a murder and someone innocent was framed for it, he should confess or me or someone would step in. i love all of my friends but there shouldnt have to be someones life on the line espically if now you know, that makes you included. if i could choose i wouldnt want to know at all but in this case its unfair.

Because people need second chances, if they dont take it then thats on them you tried.

I chose to encourage him to confess by himself because he would not be feeling guilty and by confessing he would be able to sleep at nights. If my friend doesn't tell the police I would do it because if I don't say nothing I can be accused of being guilty because I knew who commit the crime but I didn't say nothing.

You shouldn't tell secrets like it's if they want to turn themselves in on their own free will. Yes, it's wrong that someone else is doing their time, but your friend dodged a bullet with getting caught. The person who was arrested probably beat it from insufficient evidence, but nonetheless your friend's trust in you to keep it in is more important than telling.

I would encourage my friend to confess what he has done because its right thing to do but also cause the longer he waits the more trouble he's going to be in.

I wouldn't snitch on my friend like that, because they trust me. Them already feeling extremely bad because of it is enough. Also maybe they'll tell the police themselves if it's too much for them.

I wouldn't snitch on my friend like that but I will encourage to tell the truth because it's the right thing to do.

I would encourage them to confess because of how serious the situation is. an innocent man is locked up for the friends' crime and that must be very upsetting to the mans family.

I chose to encourage my friend to confess and warn him if he does not do so, I'd tell just because no one should be at fault for someone else's wrong doing but I'd rather convince my friend to confess as much as I could so I wouldn't have to snitch.

i would encourage my friend to confess because if you confess normally you dont get in as uch trouble as getting cought

I think I would encourage my friend to confess so that he would be content with the consequences and it would be a little easier on me and them

I would encourage him to turn himself in because its the right thing to do.

I'd try to encourage my friend to give themselves up, and if they don't, I am not willing to allow an innocent bystander to be convicted in their place, so I would turn them in myself. It's even in criminal law as Blackstone's ratio: "It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer"
If the law is doing their job properly, they'd catch my friend in the first place, most of my friends are dumb. However, if the case turns to having an innocent taking the place of my friend, I would turn my friend in, despite the fact that they trusted me, before that said innocent's trial.

I wouldn't say anything because it doesn't involve me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I would encourage him to do the right thing and turn himself in.

I would encourage my friend to confess because it's the right thing, and if my friend does not confess I would. it's not fair that another person would be accused because of that persons fault.

i wouldn't really want to snitch on a friend that trusts me. i would just hope the person arrested stays safe.

I wouldn't save anything to anyone.

I would encourage my friend to confess and do the right thing. If he doesn't, I'll go to the police because it's not fair the the accused.

Well if I had to choice I would have chosen " it all depends on the crime or the reason why." It hard to choose a choice with out more information but for now I chosen to courge him to confess. Because even though he "did" the crime he feels guilt that other person is getting arrested because of his mistake. Over the years of history many people were framed or locked away because people can't take responesible for what they done.

Well said, Rawlings! There's a big difference between "stole a loaf of bread" and "took another's life". I think more information is definitely needed!

tbh i wouldnt really say nothin cus like they say what turns around comes around so i wouldnt say anything because karma will find him or her easy so just let karma do the work.

damienn - well I know not to tell you anything lol. To add to what you said about Blackstone's ratio: "It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer". I see where you're coming from but I totally do not agree. If you actually think about it and go more into depth on that statement, it's like if you were a policeman in a crowd. 10 being criminals, the rest being innocent bystanders. Would you rather those criminals be caught and innocent individual be accidentally shot, or would you want to be so careful not to shoot the individual, that the criminals escape? To be, or not to be, that is the question.

i agree with that entirely. selling out your friends like that is almost as bad as making an assignment where we have to reply to other peoples conversations meaningfully.

I wouldn't rat out a friend like that. But if it was robbery or murder or rape then I would try to convince them to turn them selves in.

I would not betray mu friend because they are my friend, and they trust me.

It depends on the crime they did. I would encourage them to turn them self in or warn them I would tell.

I wouldn't say anything I'm not a rat. The few people I call my friends been there for me so ain't no way Im telling on gang. My lips stay shut.

I said Encourage your friend to confess and warn him if he does not do so, you will tell? because it will be wrong to let some take some time for something that your friend did.

i woudnt rat them out cause they willl if i did and the fact that the crime could be up to 40 years of jail time

It really depends on what they did. If it's really bad then you could go to the police yourself, but if it's no that bad then you can tell your friends that they should go tell the police what they did. So for me it really depend on what they did.

I would try to help my and encourage my to do the right thing or if not than I would tell them myself

never telling you anything. you a takashi

its not my info to tell my homie trust me and its staying that way but ill fight him

facts b

i would try to convince my friend to turn himself in because i feel like it wouldn't be right to let an innocent guy get arrested and that way I wouldn't be betraying him.

I would encourage them because it is the right thing and it punishes me that I know the secret and someone else got arrested for it.

I would try to encourage them to tell the truth. It's not that i want them to pay but it is also that right to let someone get the blame for a thing someone else did.

If my friend confides in me about something I feel like it's not my job to tell anyone unless someone's life is in danger.

I believe that karma will hit back after betraying someone who trusts you.

I wouldn't tell on my friend because they confided in me to keep their secret, but if the crime wasn't heavily committed I would joke on them about committing something so small. If it was something bigger than stealing a candy bar I most definitely would not tell because some people can't handle more pressure than others.

Because if my friend confesses then I would hope that he would get in less trouble and doing the right thing will make him a better person and friend.

I would encourage him to confess for his crimes because what he did was bad

i choose that beacuse i would not want anybody to get in trouble.

i chose not to tell because i woudnt betray my friend

I choose'd the last answer from which was... "Say nothing because you will not betray a friend’s confidence?"

Reason why is I would stay quite and not get involved with the situation that was happening

I would ask them to confess because depending on the type of thing that they did wrong it would be better to confess then let their guilt consuming them.

I wouldn't say anything about it because I feel my friend would have a good reason for committing the crime, especially if it's someone that I trust and believe would've never committed any crimes. I trust that my friend committed the crime for a valid reason.

I would encourage them to fess up because I would not snitch and i would tell them when they are wrong especially in this situation. I want them to trust me and keep trusting me so I will not snitch on them. If their wrong, then their wrong and I would stick beside them when they do the right thing.

I will rat a Person out if they have they did something bad. I will rat him out because he they may kill me

I agree with that because it is the right thing to do and it will be bad If you dont

I will not do that because they may kill you at a any point

Very good choose because if you don't they may kill you

If I just say nothing and not talk to that friend for a specific amount of time until the heat dies down then I won't be convicted of any actions that has happened, and will not get in any trouble from the authorities also. I might be asked questions but since I have separated myself from the situation I there for cannot lie and tell them I have nothing to do with anything said friend has done.

it honestly depends on what the friend did, if the friend did something small like steal from a store or trespass just for laughs and giggles of course not, they'd probably be let off with a warning. But if the friend did something more severe like downright WRONGFULLY murder someone or worse than that, no question I'd immediately tell the cops that the friend was at fault.

i would not betray my friend , but you cant let a innocent person take the consequences for what you have done. but i will encourage my friend to tell the police and it is better to tell the truth than lie about the situation then when they do find out it was you .. you will get in more trouble .

I wouldn't say anything. I wouldn't want to lose their trust. Plus, if they did something serious, there is a high chance they wouldn't think twice about hurting me. And I'd rather not have that happen.

It isn't my moral responsibility to rat on my friend in any way. Its up to the courts to prove he committed a crime and find him guilty of such. Ultimately, betraying my friend's trust is worse than anything else and whether he is found guilty of the crime is to be determined by the courts rather than me snitching on him.

I would encourage my friend to go confess to the police because it would be the right thing to do and it would help the person that died family to get some closure and feel better knowing that the person who killed their family has been caught.

I wouldn't tell the police because he is my friend and I want them to stay my friend

i would not like to be dragged in to problems

I would not say anything because you can lose confidence
from someone who trusts you.

I would encourage them to tell the truth because it's the right thing to do

Well if I had to choice I would have chosen " it all depends on the crime or the reason why

I can't, i'm sorry, it's probably wrong and dangerous, but if I snitch, I will be next

I would tell them to tell the truth to the higher-ups in the situation. I honestly wouldn't want to be part of it.

I would try to convince my friend to go and tell the police because it would make it easier on him and tell him if he dident then i would go and tell the police.

im not gonna snitch because it wasnt homies fault.

nah we dont snitch on the homies

i am no snitch

I would go to the police because if my friend did those things and did not want to get arrested they could so something to me.

because someone else s getting blamed for a crime he did

no i wouldnt tell

i wouldn't tell on them but i would try to get him to confess.

im not a snitch so i know nothing. friendship is better than a job when i can apply to mcdonalds

I would tell them to confess so I don't have to rat them out and the right person can go to jail.

I would try to encourage my friend to confess so they would get into less trouble than they are already in but if they don't then I will tell cause I'm not trying to get in trouble for something a friend did that I wasn't involved in.

I wouldn't rat on my friend

I think I would encourage my friend to confess that they were the ones who committed the crime because hiding the truth makes an innocent person pay for the consequences. Even though I wouldn't want to lose their trust, I know that the right thing to do is to persuade them to confess so that the innocent person could be free.

Help your friend with a crime bad or good because when your friend tells the truth to the policeless punishment and less time in jail.

I would not say anything because you can lose confidence
from someone who trusts you.

I wouldn't say anything if it's a small crime. I also don't like talking to other people so I probably wouldn't anything anyways.

If I know that a friend has committed a crime, then unless a police officer asked me, I ain't saying anything.

I would never snitch on a friend unless theyre like a Ted Bundy kind of killer.

i aint snitching on my friend for nothing even if they do something really bad so thats why i picked Say nothing because you will not betray friend. cause i would help my friend out instead of snitching on him

If they had the confidence to tell me what they did then i feel i shouldn't say anything. It's not my business and if they didn't catch him then he made no mistakes well good for him. The dude who they arrest most likely did something to get tied up in the crime.