A Rascally Witness
April 5, 2014 1 Comment
During this Lenten season each Sunday our church congregation repeats the Decalogue, The Ten Commandments:
The First Commandment
Rector: I am the Lord your God who brought you out of bondage. You shall have no other gods but me.
Congregation: Amen. Lord have mercy.
Last Sunday we had the privilege of hearing The Rev. Dr. Michael Lloyd, principal of Wycliffe Seminary in Oxford present a sermon on…
Rector: You shall not steal.
Congregation: Amen. Lord have mercy.
The Rev Dr. Lloyd reminded us that the original intent of this command was for God’s people not to steal other people (remember the story of Joseph?). Dr. Lloyd reminded us of the ongoing tragedy of human trafficking.
Tomorrow:
Rector: You shall not be a false witness.
Congregation: Amen. Lord have mercy.
The book of Proverbs has some interesting observations about truth telling…:
What are worthless and wicked people like? They are constant liars
Prov. 6:12
17 When you tell the truth, justice is done, but lies lead to injustice. 20 Those who plan evil are in for a rude surprise, but those who work for good will find happiness. 22 The Lord hates liars, but is pleased with those who keep their word.
Prov. 12
A rascally witness makes a mockery of justice, and the mouth of the wicked spreads iniquity.
Prov. 19:28
A false accusation is as deadly as a sword, a club, or a sharp arrow. (emphasis mine)
Prov. 25:18
…and so does history:
The following quote has major implications for our present political discourse:
“In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is…in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.”
― Theodore Dalrymple (emphasis mine)
Note how lying and political correctness go hand in hand?
Speaking of a “rascally witness“, below is a response to the obvious lies and character assassination of the Koch Brothers spoken by Senator Harry Reid on the Senate floor, from a recent WSJ op-ed:
Charles Koch: I’m Fighting to Restore a Free Society
Instead of welcoming free debate, collectivists engage in character assassination.
Cindy Wity 
It is encouraging to read this. Here in the States, most Christians do not know the Ten Commandments in any order or form. And most children are no longer taught them. http://textsincontext.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/teaching-children-the-ten-commandments/