Kerry may not have lied (on one occasion)

The statement I am concerning himself, is one of the debate answers concerning abortion and religion. He said:

1. I personally, based on (deeply?) held religious beliefs, hold that life begins at conception.
2. I don't think a person should legislate based on his religious beliefs (a statement contradicted by some of his other arguments and statements, but I'm ignoring that here).
3. Therefore, I feel I must back pro-abortion legislation.

What Kerry fails to admit (out loud) here is that, he does legislate based on his personal beliefs, its just that he has other secular sources of ethical standards which trump his religious beliefs in this matter. What those beliefs might be are thus far Kerry's secret.

Did Kerry lie? He did deceive in not telling us the true reason for his voting practice. But if he was not aware of the reason, it wasn't a lie. It is very likely that Kerry personally thinks he is anti-abortion, but that he is "forced" to back the pro-abortion view against his faith. What he doesn't realize is that the "forcing" is due to internal belief systems which are not external. But he may "think" they are, which is likely his error.

So it depends on your opinion of Kerry. If you think he is very smart, he lied. If he's not, he didn't.