“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16

While the Ninth Commandment is sometimes narrowly interpreted as prohibiting lying in court, the broader biblical context illustrates its intended condemnation of all forms of falsehood, slander, misrepresentation and unjust testimony that injure others.

Exodus 23 makes this fact indisputable. Verses 1 and 2 amplify the chapter’s theme:

“You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice.”

These verses expand the relevance of the Ninth Commandment far beyond personal honesty. They bring condemnation of falsity and its purposeful proliferation – into the realm of public life, politics and social movements.

You, MAGA, have “joined hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.” You, MAGA, have purposefully proliferated the nonstop falsehoods that spew from your demigod’s mouth 24/7. You, MAGA, have not offered correction or pushback. Instead, you double-down on deceit because it fits your false narrative about what is moral and what is not.

Let’s be clear: your leader is NOT a moral man. Perhaps that does not matter to you since you applaud him for lowering your taxes by pulling SNAP benefits from the hungry and medical care from the sick. But your sycophantic acceptance and propagation of his self-serving lies put you in direct violation of the Ninth Commandment.

What lies, you ask? Really? Fact checkers estimate that he fabricated more than 30,000 “facts” in his first term alone. It seems he has made at least that many in the past three months regarding the war in Iran. But as a reminder, here are some whoppers:

• The 2020 election was stolen
• Obama was not born in the US
• Mexico would pay for the border wall
• He would end the Ukraine-Russian conflict within 24 hours
• “I know nothing about Project 2025”
• He didn’t pay off Stormy Daniels
• “I had the largest inauguration crowd ever”
• No new wars

Obedience to God’s command for truth does not simply mean that we should not invent lies. Equally malevolent in His eyes is the spreading of lies.

Or, perhaps you are just an apologist for POTUS’ falsehoods. That makes you an enabler. And if you are a Christian, it also makes you a hypocrite. Scripture is clear: the Lord hates hypocrisy.

But the deceit you enable and perpetuate does not merely damage reputations and put your salvation at risk; it corrupts entire systems of justice and governance. When leaders, citizens, media figures or activists knowingly spread falsehoods, trust erodes and justice becomes harder to achieve.

Viewed through Exodus 23, the Ninth Commandment is not simply a prohibition against lying. It is a call to reject misinformation, resist groupthink, avoid false accusations, and pursue justice by remaining faithful to the truth—even when the truth is inconvenient to your preferred political cause.