Violation ninth commandment sets world on unsafe path

Moses and the Ten Commandments in art

Carol Forsloff - Followers of Christianity, Judaism and Islam point to the Ten Commandments as their "articles of faith," but the sin of violating the ninth commandment might be the worst.

Now some folks just might be scratching their heads right now, trying to
remember the sequence of those ten commandments to pull that ninth commandment out of a memory bank before this writer proceeds.

So for proper framework early in this discussion:  it's about bearing false witness against your neighbor.

What might that mean for those who stress values, ethics and faith,because even the non-believers, the atheists, stress these certain principles as basic to human relationships, these ten commandments that
give the guideposts for how people should behave.

That ninth commandment says a lot.  And one thing that seems to stand out in the ten it sits among, is there seems little discussion of rank on the list.  In other words one commandment isn't more or less
important than another, except Jesus' message of love that is added to reinforce all of the rest.

One could write a dissertation, a book, a major treatise on why the ninth commandment, and in some ways each of the others, is the most important of the ten commandments.

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."  On an international scale might mean one nation does not accuse another of terrible things unless there is obvious, and compelling evidence to do it.  Violating this commandment can be a cause for war.

On an individual level, lies about another can cause false imprisonment,loss of jobs, loss of social standing and even loss of one's family.As we have seen in the Innocence Project those wrongfully accused have been set free with new or more specific evidence.  False accusations develop from that tendency to get the case closed rather than finding the truth in the matter.

Violation of the ninth commandment can cause great divisions in society,bitter feelings and hate as one political party or social group, in order to secure power, undermines another through lies.

It leads to self deception as well:  II Timothy 2:24-25 "And the
servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all [men], apt
to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves;
if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of
the truth."

Violation of the ninth commandment abrogates the message of love.  The commandment rises above religious differences and speaks to all men about how lies can destroy understanding of others and knowledge of oneself.

The ninth commandment, for atheist,ethicist or religious folk, gives a framework for  acceptance of neighbors, but abuse of it the path toward violence.