The Salty Peanut Gallery

Proverbs 26:7 & 9 explains that “a proverb in the mouth of a fool” is like “a lame man’s legs, which hang useless” and “a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard.” Why is the wisdom of God out of place coming from a fool? Because it is invariably misquoted, misappropriated and generally inconsistent with his lifestyle. It’s as useless as a pair of limp legs. Like a man too drunk to pull a thorn from his hand, a fool is unaffected by the sting of wisdom and incapable of rightly applying it. Like a drunk waiving around a thorn bush, a fool quoting a proverb is a danger to himself and to others.

We’ve recently heard the phrase “bearing false witness” being used to describe those who disagree with the government health care reform bill that is currently being considered before congress. Here we have a clear lack of understanding on the part of our elected officials on the correct usage of this phrase. There seems to be some confusion over what is considered a lie and what is bearing false witness. Let me see if I can clear this up. Saying things that are patently untrue about the health care bill, that would be called a lie. For an example of this look no further than the president’s speech before a joint session of congress last Wednesday night.

While it is technically true that both the House and Senate versions of the health care bill contain language that specifically bars illegal immigrants from receiving federal help to purchase health care coverage, it is not truthful to say “reform efforts will not insure illegal immigrants.” Without tough enforcement provisions, which Democrats have thus far refused to include, a written ban is meaningless. There’s nothing in this bill to prevent it from happening. Only now in the wake of all the furor over Rep. Joe Wilson’s congressional outburst are members of the Senate Finance Committee actually discussing the addition of enforcement safeguards to their bill. Clearly the president was not telling the whole truth. This is what is known as a lie.

Bearing false witness on the other hand carries with it a more specialized meaning. Former President Jimmy Carter provides us with a beautiful example.

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Bearing false witness means intentionally telling falsehoods specifically designed to undercut the integrity of others. The idea is that of someone giving false testimony on the witness stand in a courtroom. In this instance President Carter, bereft of anything remotely substantive to bring to the health care discussion, has chosen to strike a low blow by playing the race card, impugning the integrity of protesters with an INCREDIBLY STUPID (pardon my French) ad hominem attack and thus absolving himself from having to consider the real concerns that real Americans have toward this governmental monstrosity. Bearing false witness is considered by God an abomination. It is among the things God hates the most (Proverbs 6:16-19). Bearing false witness is “deceitful” (Proverbs 12:17) and according to God’s Word “will not go unpunished” (Proverbs 19:9).

So I hope we’ve cleared up any misunderstandings there may have been toward the usage of this phrase. And remember, the next time you hear a politician attempting to use scripture in public in support of an agenda, consider the source and beware.