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-St. Augustine
8th Commandment
What does this mean? We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, nor defame our neighbor, but defend him, speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.
It is primarily aimed against the serious, destructive perversions of the truth that radically damages the life of the family, community and society.
The eighth commandment forbids misrepresenting the truth in our relations with others. This moral prescription flows from the vocation of the holy people to bear witness to their God who is the truth and wills the truth. Offenses against the truth express by word or deed a refusal to commit oneself to moral uprightness: they are fundamental infidelities to God and, in this sense, they undermine the foundations of the covenant.
The Old Testament attests that God is the source of all truth. His Word is truth. His Law is truth. His "faithfulness endures to all generations." Since God is "true," the members of his people are called to live in the truth.
Truth or truthfulness is the virtue which consists in showing oneself true in deeds and truthful in words, and in guarding against duplicity, dissimulation, and hypocrisy.
The duty of Christians to take part in the life of the Church impels them to act as witnesses of the Gospel and of the obligations that flow from it. This witness is a transmission of the faith in words and deeds. Witness is an act of justice that establishes the truth or makes it known.
Calumny
A lie told about someone accusing, him of something of which he is not guilty. Calumny is what is directly forbidden in the old testament: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (Ex 20:16).
Detraction
Telling a harmful truth about someone to an individual who has no right to know. It is allowed to reveal the faults of another only in situations when an evil could befall another person or grave harm could come to society id the faults were not revealed.
Rash Judgment
The interior or exterior judgment made about the reputation if a person, without sufficient reason, with which one attributes a moral defect to his neighbor.
POPULAR IMMORALITY:
LYING:
deliberately telling as the TRUTH what you know to be a falsehood is the work of the Devil and his followers (Isaiah 44:24-25, John 8:44) And, we are sternly warned that DAMNATION awaits those who follow such practices (Deuteronomy 33:29; Jeremiah 50:36; I Timothy 1:9-10; Revelations 21:8)
"A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving."The Lord denounces lying as the work of the devil: "You are of your father the devil, . . . there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Lying is the most direct offense against the truth. To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead someone into error. By injuring man's relation to truth and to his neighbor, a lie offends against the fundamental relation of man and of his word to the Lord.
The gravity of a lie is measured against the nature of the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by its victims. If a lie in itself only constitutes a venial sin, it becomes mortal when it does grave injury to the virtues of justice and charity.
a. LIFE PRIORITY:
The Commandment to preserve life (no murder) takes priority over the Commandment not to lie, so that if your life (or the life of loved-ones or friends) is threatened, then it may be permissible to lie a bit to protect them from harm (Genesis 12:11-13, 20:1-2).
b. DIS-INFORMATION:
The Government has a duty to protect the lives of its servicemen and officials, so that if their lives are threatened by an enemy, it may be permissible to put forth missleading information (Joshua 2:1-7). However, this tactic should be used sparingly, lest the enemy get use to seeing through what is said OR a credibility gap arise as the public loses trust or confidence in what its officials say
MALICIOUS GOSSIP:
telling embarrassing stories about someone with the intent to do them social or psychological damage or harm (Whisper Campaign), usually involving:
a. BACKBITING or BACKSTABBING:
spreading rumors about someone behind their back so that they are unaware of the bad things that are being said about them-and thus are made defenseless and not allowed to speak in reply (Psalms 15:3; Proverbs 25:3; Romans 1:30; II Corinthians 12:20).
d. TALEBEARERS:
people who love to spread stories about others, without checking out what the true facts of the tale may be (Proverbs 11:9, 13, 18:8, 26:20; Romans 3:13)--THEREFORE, always go to the source or victim of the rumor and inquire as to what the true facts are
SLANDER OR LIBEL:
publicly saying (slander) things about people that are not true to the damaging of their reputation or public image--or (libel) printing, publishing, broadcasting such things in the various media (Psalms 31:13, 50:20, 101:5; Proverbs 10:18; Jeremiah 9:4-5; Revelations 12:10), for this is the job of Satan (the Slanderor) and his workers.
FALSE ACCUSATION:
officially accusing or charging someone of committing a crime that you know that they did not do (Nehemiah 6:7; Job 2:5; Jeremiah 37:13-15; Matthew 5:11; I Peter 3:16)
PERJURY:
telling lies about someone while under an official oath to tell only the truth about them (Leviticus 6:3, 19:12; Deuteronomy 19:16-18; Zechariah 5:1-4; Matthew 15:19; Luke 3:14; I Timothy 1:9-10)--hence attempting to threaten and disrupt the proper Due Process of Justice.
COMMERCIAL DECEPTIONS:
FALSE ADVERTISING:
All too often, products or services are presented as something that they are not-deceiving the consumer into thinking that he is getting something that he is not (Genesis 3:4-5).
FRAUD:
When a businessman deliberately represents himself or his product (services) as something that he is not, so that he has gained some commercial advantage (usually money) by mis-representing the true facts or in deliberate deception of the customer (Acts 8:9-11 & 13:6-11).