Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! There are ten (10) “In Brief” articles in the Catechism of the Catholic Church addressing the Eighth Commandment of the Decalogue, ‘You shall not bear false witness.’ The following is a reflection on CCC 2512.
The Eighth Commandment, ‘You shall not bear false witness’ has a multitude of implications, not only that we should not lie, but also that we should tell the truth, value and love the truth. Even more, the Eighth Commandment enjoins upon us a respect for liberty and justice both of which are founded upon truth.
Our lives in society, in common with others, requires that we be truth tellers. How could a court of law administer any justice, giving each what is due, without any true witnesses, any true testimony? The Lord Jesus Christ assures us that He is the way, the truth, and the life and that the truth will set us free (cf. John 8:32; 14:6). Whenever we sin, however we sin, we reject God, His call to holiness, His grace. Whenever we repent our sins and are well confessed we reject the devil, the glamour of evil, and receive God’s great and everlasting mercy.
“Yellow journalism” or the “yellow press” is an abuse of communication, which seeks to sell newspapers, books, advertisements through hyped-up, eye-catching headlines and teasers, with lurid features and sensationalized reports without any or much honest research. Such scandal-mongering now is not limited to tabloid print media but extends to radio, television (cable or satellite), and internet outlets alike. Without accurate reporting how are citizens to make well founded judgments which will affect their lives in society, with others?
Propaganda was used for very ill effects in Nazi Germany in the distortions and lies told by Paul Joseph Goebbels (+1945), Julius Streicher (+1946) in Der Stürmer, and even by Adolf Hitler (+1945) himself in Mein Kampf. The “newspaper” Pravda in the USSR and Granma of the Cuban Communist Party come to mind as do the tabloids National Enquirer, The Sun, and The Globe in America, The Mirror, The Sun, and the Daily Star in the UK. God forbid we spend all our time reading such drivel.
Read real news and have fodder for prayer. Give thanks for what is praiseworthy. Beg mercy for what is wicked. Intercede for those in need. If all we do is become absorbed in questionable media forms we waste our lives. Moderation in the use of social communications is required. How else will we carve out time for family, for faith, for honest work??? Both moderation and discipline are required as we “consume” social media. Without such virtue we become vicious and our society follows suit. The Founding Fathers of the United States recognized the importance of a free press in the First Amendment to the Constitution as being a great bulwark of liberty which can help to keep government from becoming despotic. For freedom we have been set free (cf. Galatians 5:1).
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr