"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
The eighth commandment protects the truth from being violated
Often, we are afraid to face the truth; we'd rather live on half-truths or lies
Truth
Primarily that quality of human interpersonal relationships
Offenses against the Eighth Commandment
Lying
False Witness and Perjury
Detraction and slander/calumny
Tale-bearing
Gossip
Lying
The most common and direct offense against the truth
Truthfulness
The virtue by which we speak and act according to reality
Lying
Plants seeds of division and mistrust in the minds of others, and thus weakens the whole network of social relationships which constitute the community
Types of lying
White lies of boasting (pasiklab) - exaggerating one's qualities or actions to gain favor with others.
Lying (palusot) - caused by fear, escapist or for saving face
Careless lying (sabi-sabi), or simple flattery (bola) - Often these individual lies are of small moment But the damage done to the persons involved,
Silence (pa-simple) - when it is the coward's "refuge" to avoid trouble or to support something known to be wrong.
False Witness and Perjury
Lies spoken in public, particularly in a court of justice
Perjury
To swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and then go back on one's word
Detraction
Destroying the good name of our neighbor by publicly revealing, without necessity, their hidden faults
Slander/Calumny
Destroying the good name of our neighbor by publicly revealing invented faults
