Perhaps the internet is not the best place to find truthful witness and genuine humility but I find it particularly disturbing when self professed Christians abandon these virtues in their posts and comments. To be clear, it is not for me to judge individuals, but what I want to highlight is a negative trend in which honesty and humbleness cease to be regarded as essential attributes for practicing Christians, instead being seen as things that can be set aside when inconvenient, most notably when trying to “score points” in a debate or argument.

The Bible is abundantly clear on bearing false witness, for example: “A false witness will not go unpunished, and a liar will not escape.” (Proverbs 19:5). One of the Ten Commandments is quite simply “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). The references are not limited to the Old Testament:

“So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.” (Ephesians 4:25)

The Ninth Commandment is later expanded:

“1 You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with the wicked to act as a malicious witness. 2 You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing; when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with the majority so as to pervert justice” (Exodus 23:1–2)

One of the most common forms of bearing false witness on the internet is the inventing and distribution of conspiracy theories. From the first verse of Exodus 23, it is absolutely clear that this is contrary to God’s Will: “You shall not spread a false report”. Of course those disseminating falsehoods will claim that they thought it was true. It is for those individuals to know if they really think that deep in their hearts where God can see, but even if they do, it is incumbent upon each of us to do our best not to deceive others whether intentionally or not.

This means fact checking information that we receive by going beyond reading our favourite news outlet, asking within our social media echo chamber or listening to the politician we like the most. Knowing that we have naturally and purposely surrounded ourselves with sources and people with similar opinions to our own, it is essential that we make an effort to examine a broad cross-section of views on any given issue. Where the majority disagree with the facts of a story doing the rounds on our preferred outlet or in our community, then we should be wary of propagating it lest it be untrue.

We can see in the Bible how the desire to spread false information to help our side to victory ties together several things that God regards as abominations:

“16 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that hurry to run to evil, 19 a lying witness who testifies falsely, and one who sows discord in a family.” (Proverbs 6: 16–20)

It is “a heart that devises wicked plans” and “a lying tongue” that first develops a conspiracy theory which may be based on words from “a lying witness who testifies falsely”. By being complicit in the scheme, those who then disseminate the false report have “feet that hurry to run to evil”. The result of its spread is often “discord” or the shedding of “innocent blood” in the worst case literally, but certainly metaphorically. Many of those involved feel that their side’s superiority warrants them the right to use whatever means necessary to win, whether fair or foul — they have “haughty eyes”.

Aside from the innocents negatively impacted by conspiracy theories, another disastrous outcome is the stifling of the Christian witness. How can we spread the Good News if we are devoting our efforts to manufacturing and distributing conspiracy theories? And even if we do manage to squeeze in some time for God’s work, who will listen to the words emanating from a tongue they just saw bearing false witness a few moments before?

We are called to love neighbour and even enemy. We can see clearly what this love requires in these famous verses:

“4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.” (1 Corinthians 13:4–6)