Exodus 20:16

 

The 9^th Commandment is so written in The New American Bible: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

 

My response: We are, whether testifying about our neighbor in court, at work, in commerce, socially or within our family group, never to bear false witness against others, to lie about them, to slander them, to defame them, to besmirch their good reputation.

 

The Good Spirits are angels that love, that love and speak truth, and they expect that their human associates will seek to live up to the same standard of truth-telling by not bearing false witness against others, mischaracterizing their character, action, or motives, due to tendentious inclination, pro or con in stating the nature of their neighbor’s current status as a human being.

 

Here is the same commandment in the Holy Bible (KJV): “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”

 

My response: This seems self-explanatory, and it is, but we need to consider at least three areas, three areas of higher order bearing false witnessing or lying about someone’s reputation, character, motives and actions, a pattern of malicious statements which damage them personally, and damage the community in addition.

 

First, this commandment in general, seems to be Yahweh’s injunction against lying, the immoral way to live. To lie is to think, be, do and spread evil, for truth, beauty, love, liberty, happiness, reason, virtuousness, and holiness are not definitional synonyms for each other, but they individually define aspects of the human personality that are closely related to and reinforce each other in many wholesome ways.

 

To bear false witness is the reduce the prospects in the world for truth, beauty, love, liberty, reason, virtuousness, and holiness inside of each person and among persons, and that is to grow evil in the world, and this the Divine Couple will punish.

 

Second, to bear false witness against others is to reduce the complex, social reward system that feeds into supporting, rewarding, and reinforcing each human’s sense of self-worth and self-confidence that she can and is worthy to maverize as a living angel, working for the Divine Couple.

 

Third, when we bear false witness against others, that grows out of our self-deceiving that comes first. We deceive ourselves; we slander, gaslight and defame ourselves constantly. We lie to and about ourselves to ourselves, blocking out the healing power of the Good Spirits, cutting us off from hope of redemption and salvation, ensuring that we will not maverize and serve God.