Faith and Values: Perjury in Political Discourse

Do you remember the first time you lied as a child? I don’t. But I’m sure there was a very good reason for this – for example, to avoid getting into trouble with mom or dad.

I’m sure this started a pattern of self-defense against anything. So, in today’s culture of rampant and toxic lies, I have to ask:

Why is it so important that so many politicians lie? Why is it so important that so many of their followers believe them?

Since I decided on October 7 to focus this column on “perjury” (or “lies,” if you prefer), I have attempted to track episodes of political lies recorded in our media. It is amazing—and disheartening—to see how easily politicians at all levels can lie with conviction without caring that they are lying.

The decision to write my column was prompted by Donald Trump’s persistent lies about many things—but especially the dangerous lie that FEMA funds support illegal immigrants rather than hurricane victims. It was/is obviously “fake news” and cruel on many levels.

An additional cascade of lies comes from Trump and his MAGA cult followers: denial of the 2020 election of Joe Biden, or that January 6, 2021 was filled with “love and peace,” or countless lies about immigrants from Haiti and Venezuela. There are too many to list in these final days of election season.

I have previously told this “true” story from Sir Joan Chittister. It’s worth repeating:

“One day a visitor came to the monastery in search of purpose and meaning in life. The Master told the visitor: “If what you seek is Truth, there is one thing you must have above all.”

“I know,” said the visitor. “To find the Truth, I must have an irresistible passion for it.” “No,” said the teacher. “To find Truth, you must have a relentless willingness to admit that you may be wrong.” »

It seems like so many MAGA Republicans and their leader can’t admit that they might be wrong. I’m very sad for them and scared for our country if Trump wins.

But partisan comments aside, I want to look at the human tendency to lie in a biblical context. Lying is just part of our human nature.

The ninth commandment in Exodus 20:16, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” calls us to remember that we are more than that. He condemns false, harmful speech as an act of injustice to God and others.

We don’t take lies very seriously. But today we need to remind ourselves of this. In our current cultural moment, it has become all too easy for us to lie.

The ease of lying may have a deeper reason. In a 2016 column, I talked about how every person alive has suffered to some degree from the Tyranny of Confidence.

“Tyranny” comes from Greek words that mean “absolute power”, “lord”. We are dependent (and tyrannized) by our own need for certainty when we project our certainty onto others as the only worthy way of thinking. A bold lie strongly suggests that someone is firmly in the grip of the tyranny of certainty.

When we encounter this tyranny, we must consider standing up to the bully. Here it is worth listening to the wisdom of Elie Wiesel (“Night Trilogy”):

“We have to take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, not the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, not the tormented. Sometimes we have to intervene.

When human lives are threatened, when human dignity is threatened, national boundaries and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion or political views, that place must – at this moment – ​​become the center of the universe.”

Choose your side of the search for truth and vote for your conscience!

The Rev. Paul Graves, a Sandpoint resident and former United Methodist minister, can be reached at [email protected].