The ninth commandment warns against bearing false witness. Reduced to its basic norm, it is a commandment against lying. Lying is falsification of information, and God frowns at this. One reason why this is a grave offense is that it is manipulative in nature. Information is to society what rudder is to a ship. People generally respond in the direction of information that they receive. Information draws emotional response from us; it also forms the basis of the decisions we make.

The ninth commandment warns against bearing false witness. Reduced to its basic norm, it is a commandment against lying…Be careful that you don’t run your life by what you read online. Be careful also not to like and share what you have not verified.

I recall a video that went viral in Nigeria a couple of years ago. Someone claimed that all wheat products were mixed with plastic by the Chinese. She claimed that it was the attempt of the Chinese to kill people; but Jesus is going to stand in their way. Later that day, a staff of a flour mill made a different video to correct the earlier information. What was earlier described as plastic mixture was actually gluten which is found in all wheat products. Well, but for the right information from an authority, I was ready to part way with all wheat-based menu. Information came to David that all his sons had been killed. That had a devastating effect on the king and all that were with him. They all tore their clothes as they lay on the ground. It happened that only Amnon had been killed in revenge mission. These days we are bombarded with information on social media. Many of them have not been proven. Many are mere exaggeration. Be careful that you don’t run your life by what you read online. Be careful also not to like and share what you have not verified.