Which is really the entire problem with the discussions in this thread. Way too many people think:
- evil = murdering everything that move
- good = helping people and being nice
- neutral = money, money, money
That's not how D&D define the alignments. The D&D alignment system was based off virtues. Lying fall under evil, even if you are doing it for a good cause under D&D alignment system.
You can somewhat blame Larian for this way of thinking. In BG3, a significant (arguably the dominant) reason to go with the "evil" route is essentially "I like murdering innocents!" (Or, "I'm willing to murder innocents for the chance to sleep with a hot drow babe.")
I strongly disagree with your last statement. Lying is not an inherently Evil thing in D&D. If anything, it's an inherently Chaotic thing to do, but I wouldn't even go that far. Lawful characters can lie, as long as they're still following their code. E.g., a Lawful Paladin lies to a criminal, saying that their sentence won't be that harsh, resulting in the criminal surrendering peacefully rather than fighting and possibly harming innocents. The Paladin then turns the criminal over to judges and advocates for an (appropriately) harsh sentence: "Criminals must pay the appropriate price for their crimes. And they don't deserve the truth."
