There’s something deeply unsettling about watching people in power claim to honor the Ten Commandments—while openly violating them, especially the Ninth: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
This commandment isn’t just about perjury in a courtroom. It’s about truth. Integrity. The refusal to harm others through lies, slander, or deceit. It’s about honoring the moral weight of our words, especially when those words shape public perception, policy, and people’s lives.
And yet, I see this commandment broken almost daily.
In news outlets that twist facts to fit a narrative.
On social media where misinformation spreads like wildfire.
From presidents and politicians who bear false witness while wrapping themselves in Scripture, quoting God while living in contradiction to His teachings.
When those in leadership misuse religion as a shield for power, it does more than breed distrust—it poisons the well. It erodes our shared moral compass. It teaches the public, especially the young, that integrity is optional, and that truth is a tool, not a value.
Let me be clear: We all fall short. No one lives out the Commandments perfectly. But there’s a difference between struggling toward truth and deliberately distorting it. The latter isn’t just hypocrisy—it’s manipulation. And when it comes from a pulpit, a podium, or a presidential address, the damage is generational.
So what do we do in a time when false witness is normalized?
We start by reclaiming truth as a sacred act.
By refusing to lie even when it’s easier.
By holding our leaders—and ourselves—accountable.
And by remembering that bearing witness to the truth, even when it costs us something, is a form of resistance. A form of faith.
Because the Ninth Commandment wasn’t just a rule. It was a reminder:
That our words have weight.
That our integrity matters.
That truth, spoken with courage, still has the power to shape the world.
Let’s start there.
“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”
— Flannery O’Connor
Saint Pontius Pilate 