{"id":4390,"date":"2020-08-18T17:08:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T09:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/?p=4390"},"modified":"2024-09-22T01:50:24","modified_gmt":"2024-09-21T17:50:24","slug":"bear-false-witness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/bear-false-witness\/","title":{"rendered":"Bear False Witness by Karen Stewart"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nI\u2019m sorry God, but your ten commandments <\/span>[1] in the Bible are somewhat meaningless in today\u2019s society. My encounters with Christians over the course of my life have shown remarkable indifference towards God\u2019s stipulations. Even the current Prime Minister of Australia, who is a \u201cborn again\u201d Christian, is often seen to breach the bible rules set down during the era of Moses. The contents of the Old Testament are typically ignored in modern Christianity anyway so why would I expect the Ten Commandments to be treated any differently.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, I\u2019m not accusing Christians of regularly committing murders, theft or adultery although Christians aren\u2019t immune to those things. I\u2019m looking at the \u201clesser\u201d commandments that don\u2019t receive quite the same attention in the lives of Christians. In his discussion with Moses on top of a mountain, God didn\u2019t prioritise the ten commandments. Given Moses had to jot down the commandments with stone and chisel, there was plenty of downtime for chit chat with God. Therefore, it\u2019s probably safe to assume all commandments were afforded the same degree of adherence because Moses didn\u2019t say otherwise.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, the ninth commandment: Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbour <\/span>[2]. The catechism in the Catholic Church states this commandment, \u201cforbids misrepresenting the truth in our relations with others. We are called to be truthful, not only in our words, but in our entire way of acting towards others. <\/span>[3]\u201d It doesn\u2019t seem too complicated, but in day-to-day life many of us struggle to uphold the truth. My grandmother said a lie is, \u201ca misrepresentation you knowingly convey to someone whether by omission, deed or word.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s consider the most prominent Christian in Australia at the moment: Scott Morrison. He is very clear on his religious beliefs; so much so that he invited a camera crew into his church to model how devoted he is to these beliefs. His eyes were closed, his arms raised, singing in true Pentecostal style.<\/span><\/p>\n

Go back about twenty five years and there was a young Scott Morrison attending Maroubra Baptist Church. Morrison was an \u201celder\u201d of that church, which is part of the spiritual leadership team, and on occasion he preached in the church. It\u2019s also the church where I was sexually assaulted by two attendees but I didn\u2019t see Morrison making sure the crime was reported to the authorities. It\u2019s likely he didn\u2019t know about it, but I\u2019m going to use the Bible to permit me to judge Morrison, \u201cNot many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly <\/span>[4].\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not a political watcher, you may have missed out on the frequent obfuscation used by Morrison to avoid providing an answer to journalists. There are subjects Morrison dismisses such as \u201con water matters <\/span>[5]\u201d and \u201cCanberra Bubble <\/span>[6]\u201d which ensure he omits details and avoids accountability. There are also some absolute clangers showing the word gymnastics produced by Morrison in his avoidance tactics. These two are my favourites:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n