Eighth Commandment PDF

Eighth Commandment Karl Angelo S. Visda Living in Truth The Old Testament attests that God is the source of all truth. Man tends by nature toward the truth. He is obliged to honor and bear witness to it. Truth as uprightness in human action and speech is called truthfulness, sincerity, or ca...

Eighth Commandment Karl Angelo S. Visda Living in Truth The Old Testament attests that God is the source of all truth. Man tends by nature toward the truth. He is obliged to honor and bear witness to it. Truth as uprightness in human action and speech is called truthfulness, sincerity, or candor. 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. Men could not live with another if there were not mutual confidence that they were being truthful to one another. Truthfulness keeps to the just mean between what ought to be expressed and what ought to be kept secret: it entails honesty and discretion. In Justice, “as a matter of honor, one man owes it to another to manifest truth.” To Bear Witness To The Truth Before Pilate, Christ proclaims the He “ has come into the world, to bear witness to the truth.” To be Christian is not “be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord.” In situations that require witness to the faith, the Christian must profess it without equivocation. St. Paul argues, we must keep “a clear conscience toward God and toward men.” 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 glow from it. To Bear Witness To The Truth This witness is an act of justice that establishes the truth or makes it known. Martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith: it means bearing witness even unto death. The martyr bears witness to Christ who died and rose, to whom he is united by charity. The Church has painstakingly collected the records of those who persevered to the end in witnessing to their faith. These are the acts of the Martyrs. They form the archives of truth written in letters of blood. OFFENSES AGAINST TRUTH Lying is the most common and direct offense against the truth. Whereas truthfulness is the virtue by which we speak and act according to reality. Lying is the intentional misinterpretation of the truth by word, gesture, or even silence. To deliberately intend to mislead other persons who have the right to know the truth can do real violence to them. For it denies them knowledge to make their judgements and decisions. But why do we fall into telling lies? the reasons are manifold, depending on our own complex make-up and situation. But lies often begin with self-deception. Such deception comes from the fact that in our conscious relating to others, we are threefold: 1) the way we are, 2) the way we think we are and 3) the way we would like to be, is often quite large. This causes us frustration, and a hidden, often unconscious attempt to reduce the other to our level (e.g. instead of realizing and admitting we are aroused by envy, we criticize our neighbor for being greedy and enjoying ill-gotten possessions. Lying in these cases is really an act of aggression which strikes us against the other. Such lying can seriously harm: the integrity and reputation of the person lied about; those hearing the lie who are thereby led into error; the peace and harmony of the community; and finally, the genuine good of the person who lied. Liars become victims of their own lies, losing their self-respect before others, and shackling their own freedom by the web of entanglements woven by their own deception. There are many kinds, motivations, and situations of lying. There are the common so-called white lies of boasting (pasiklab), exaggerating one’s qualities or actions to gain favor with others. Other lies are caused by fear, escapist lying (palusot), or for saving face (preserving one’s supposed good image before others, or avoiding possible recriminations). Sometimes it is just a case of careless lying (sabi-sabi), or simple flattery (bola). But other lies can be of a more serious nature. Lies told from malice, to harm others; lies of propaganda or profit (e.g. government, commercial advertising). Hypocrisy or half-truths by which the truth is twisted or slanted to seem to say something which is not so. Contrived flattery of others can be lying when it is obviously exaggerated in order to gain undue favor of authorities, or win favor with another in personal relations or in politics. Even silence (pa-simple) can be a lie when it is the coward’s “refuge” to avoid trouble or to support something known to be wrong. More serious still are false witness and perjury which take place when the lie is spoken in public, particularly in a court of justice LYING AGAINST OUR NEIGHBOR In detraction and slander/calumny we destroy the good name of our neighbors by publicly revealing, without necessity, their hidden faults. The faults may be real, as in detraction, or invented which is worse as in calumny and slander. Both cases, however, sin against charity and justice, for we unnecessarily deprive others of their right to a good name and esteem of their fellow men. What is perhaps is more common is “tale-bearing:” among children, and gossip (tsismis) among adults. The tragedy here is not so much in cases where legal action against libel is possible. Rather it is more common occurrence of reputations destroyed by false rumors and innuendoes, which create prejudices, suspicions, rash judgements, and irrational hostile attitudes without real basis CHRISTIAN WITNESS TO TRUTH In terms of personal morality, a few general moral principles are helpful. First, truth is a value in itself; therefore, we have the general duty to tell the truth (truthfulness). Only a greater obligation in charity, real love for others can in certain circumstances, suspend this duty. Second, normally we owe the truth to those who have the right to know. But not everyone has a right to know everything we know, especially if the persons are indiscreet, or the knowledge would harm them. Third, the common good can be demanded at times for example in testifying in a court case. Truth in love: St. Paul urges “Let us profess the truth in love and grow to the full maturity of Christ the Head. So lying and falsehood are not the only problems we meet in truthful communication. To speak the truth in love can be done automatically; it is something we have to learn. For example, some are so anxious “to be loved,” to get along with others, that they are afraid to confront them with the truth. Other never listen enough to others to be able to speak the truth in love. Third type of persons uses truth to beat others down, rather than to build up relationships. They are so proud of their absolute truthfulness that they ruthlessly use “ truth” to hurt others. The genuine truth fostered by the Eight Commandment and in the light of Christ always looks to the persons in their concrete human situation, involving loving concern for the neighbor. Is it true? is it necessary? is it kind? The basic value remains the same : to love one’s neighbor as oneself. The right to communication of the truth is neither unconditional nor absolute. Rather it must conform to the gospel law of love of neighbor which comes first. Serving the truth is always first of all serving others, in the specific concrete events and realities of ther lives. To speak the truth about one’s neighbor involves every Christian in bearing witness to Jesus Christ. Truthfulness only occurs in the atmosphere of love. Thank You for listening!