Why I'm Catholic
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor" (Exodus 20:16).
Before we get started, please makes sure to check out my previous article; Three rules of religious debate, my latest on Locals (which ties directly to this), Coffee and Christianity: Episode 93: The judgement of charity, and, if you want to help me out, go here; Help with medical bills
Some time ago, I made this article, Sometimes, we're supposed to judge. It's still true. However, I also have found that some of my fellow Christians (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and others), don't seem to really want to extend the judgement of charity TO other Christians. Now, I want to go through what the catechsim says, and the Bible verses that the Catechism itself uses, III. Offenses Against Truth “2475 Christ's disciples have "put on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."273. By "putting away falsehood," they are to "put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander."274 “ The catechism quotes Ephesians 4:24-25 there. Oh, but there's more! Also from the Catechism; 2477 Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury.277 He becomes guilty: - of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor; - of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them;278- of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them. 2477 Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury.277 He becomes guilty: - of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor; - of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them;278- of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them. For me though, I'm worried about people committing the sin of calumny, myself included. I DON'T KNOW whether Alex did what he was accused of. And, I am also suspicious. But, at the same time, there are a lot of people that have already assumed his guilt. Yes, there are times we are supposed to judge, but deciding that Alex is guilty based on an accusation, IS rash judgement. In US law, at this moment, Alex is presumed innocent. And, say Alex is cleared of all charges, are the people accusing him going to apologize? Probably not. We don't know all the facts, let's not assume we do.
Serious question, would you be okay with someone assuming your guilt, even before all the facts came out?
And I thought it would be fair to let Alex comment on it; Alex's statement
"Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor" (Exodus 5:20).
I can't find the information on which Bible version the Catechism uses, I have my own personal copies of the Catechism, but I don't know where they went.
I wanted to give the copyright information.
But, since I can't find that; at least for the verses I used that were not from the CCC,
Bible used* Revised Standard Version Bible, Ignatius Edition, Copyright 2006, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America.