Earlier this evening, I sent a note to my grandchildren, reminding them to be sure to register to vote in the upcoming election. My wife and I remember when you had to be twenty-one to vote, so many young men and women who were sent to fight and die for their country in Vietnam were not yet eligible to vote.
Personal integrity is something my father drilled into me. I remember him saying no one could take that away from me, but I could give it up at any time if I became untethered from the truth. My father hated diplomats. They engaged in intentional double speak, often obscuring the truth. Dad spoke plain truth to power, even when it hurt his career. He wasn’t perfect, and nor am I. But he had integrity, and I try hard to keep my own.
The Ninth Commandment is a significant component of the Judeo-Christian ethic. Some argue that it lies (no pun intended) at the core of our moral foundation, as individuals and as a nation whose leaders earn and retain the trust of its citizens. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16. I believe this moral imperative is not only God’s law for all people, but it is a cohesive force that helps bind together people of vastly different interests and views on the issues of the day.
The Ninth Commandment is not limited to giving false testimony against an adversary in court, nor is it limited to our relations with the people who live in our neighborhood. Jesus Christ made it clear that “neighbor” means everyone who can be impacted by our actions or failures to act. Luke 10:25-37, the Parable of the Good Samaritan.” It prohibits all forms of lying and misrepresenting reality. It means we are not to speak falsely in any way; to lie, equivocate or devise ways to deceive others; to speak unjustly against someone to damage their reputation; to frame someone; to spread false rumors; or to slander or backbite.
In my opinion, rampant violations of the Ninth Commandment are tearing our country apart at the seams. Not only open microphone claims by politicians but social media viral posts cause many of us to question what the truth is. And when millions of eligible voters are so inundated with lies that they become disconnected from reality, “Houston, we have a problem.”
I understand that politicians and their supporters slant the facts to favor their position; I also understand that sometimes they speak, publish and repost claims before they are verified as accurate. But once they are informed of the falsity of their claims, they often double down and refuse to acknowledge their misstatements. Two that jump to my consciousness are former President Trump’s continued public claims that he won the last election, even though he has admitted to his closest advisers that he lost. And more recently, the claim that Haitian immigrants in a small community in Ohio were stealing household pets to feed their families. Even when they know this as been proven false, and in the face of dozens of death threats against Haitians and local public officials, Trump and his running mate keep repeating the lies. I believe this is a sin that is especially egregious. It evidences a reckless disregard for the foreseeable adverse consequences of the false claims and an intention to cause fear and division among our people.
I do not recognize the Republican Party of Trump. It seems hell bent on winning the election by any means, including voter suppression and creating new legal barriers to the timely certification of elections at the state and local level. Nixon and Watergate were the first examples in my memory of Republican over the top abuses. Some of the same “dirty tricks” characters who helped Nixon are still at the ready. Personal integrity is out of vogue. Truth is whatever they say it is, just like in the old Soviet Union. Win by any means.
I dearly love my country. I am proud of most of our history, of our traditions of hard work, charity, helping our neighbors, and standing up to bullies. But our union is far from perfect, as everyone knows. We are a work in progress, for almost a quarter of a millennium. We were born in violence, and we remain one of the most violent spots on the planet. We stand alone as the only developed nation where our citizens are entitled to own and carry military style weapons that can produce such carnage that victims can only be identified by dental records. Mass shootings are so frequent that we have become almost immune to any rational response. Our young children are not safe in public schools, as even elementary school students come to school with loaded guns in their backpacks.
Issues that really matter to most of our citizens cannot generate any positive traction or response by our national legislators, because at the end of the day, they have been bought by the lobbyists for the NRA and Big Pharma, by the fossil fuels industry and the list goes on. The system is working, some say. The framers never intended us to be a democracy, but a democratic republic with protections against the tyranny of the majority. My response to this is that we either will make reforms to the system so that our institutions are responsive to the will of the people, or it will fail and ultimately be replaced by a system that will work for the people. The inter-regnum will be very difficult, perhaps bloody, but necessary.
As great a country as we are, how can our Judeo-Christian ethos be reconciled with our status as the number one global consumer of drugs (both illegal and prescription), number one global consumer of child sex trafficking, and our acceptance of mass shootings as a fact of life? How can we continue to ignore climate change and our responsibility as stewards of the environment, forcing our grandchildren to deal with matters that are staring us right in the face?
We have lots of work to do as a nation. It would be a great deal easier for us to come together with our “neighbors” to address the issues of the day if we all took a deep breath and committed to follow the Ninth Commandment. It matters to God. It should matter to all of us.
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