Falsehood

The Confederate States of America relied heavily on creationism to justify racism and slavery. Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens said in his famous "Cornerstone Speech" that opponents of slavery "were attempting to make things equal which the Creator had made unequal. ... [Slavery] is, indeed, in conformity with the ordinance of the Creator. It is not for us to inquire into the wisdom of His ordinances, or to question them. For His own purposes, He has made one race to differ from another, as He has made 'one star to differ from another star in glory.'" The Confederate President Jefferson Davis said that slavery "was established by decree of Almighty God... it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation... it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts."

A falsehood is a statement which is not true, but is false. Falsehoods differ from lies in that there is no presupposition of the intent to deceive.