Innocent Until Proven Guilty

“You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.

“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.

“You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked. And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.   Exodus 23:1-8

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. Titus 3:1-2

It is troubling to me the things we hear on the news today. I do not know if Roy Moore is guilty of the charges against him. I do not know if the charges against Bill Cosby are true or not. I do know that men are capable of evil. God's word tells us not to be a false witness. When we no longer honor the ten commandments bearing false witness is just another thing we do. It is OK to commit adultery, it seems, when we like a person like Bill Clinton. But when the politics do not agree with our own, it seems slander is the norm today. We used to be innocent until proven guilty, but it seems many know a life or a career can be destroyed with slander, and if we disagree or just don't like someone its OK. Not according to God's word. A few years ago in southern Mississippi, I think it was a state race for state government, a political action committee slandered a man and kept him from winning. He was a democrat and although I think more conservatively, this was wrong. My political thinking should not override my right and wrong judgements. This man sued and won and required the PAC to run a full page retraction. We should not give someone like Bill Clinton a pass for his misconduct and say its his personal life, then when a conservative has a good chance of winning, we destroy him with slander. As I started writing this, I admit, I have no way of knowing if Roy Moore of Alabama is guilty of the accusations against him. But after 40 years woman are now coming forward. This is a big red flag. I would be checking bank accounts for a payoff. Now we learn our government in Washington has had a fund for years to pay off people making similar accusations against our congressmen and senators for years. This is wrong, We need to have people of integrity in Washington.  Washington is truly a swamp and needs to be cleaned up. We as a people need to get back to moral behaviors, back to keeping the ten commandments.  A few years ago an acquaintance that clamed the name of Christ had a girlfriend and she was sick and in a conversation it was noted that his partner was sick and it wasn't until a few minutes into the conversation, we realized he was taking about his girlfriend and not his wife. We seem to no longer think it necessary to keep the ten commandments in so many areas of life and society is suffering for it. Some think we need freedom from religion when in fact we need to respect religion and God and doing the right thing even when it hurts. Our society will not last and there are many that do not want it to last. Some think socialism is better and will try at any cost to destroy the good nation we have with lies and deceit. Make no mistake, God's principles are to make life good and fair, not to put unnecessary constraints on society. God 's way works and we need to get back to honoring God and the Ten Commandments.  As I read the part of the passage above about: "You shall not fall in with the many to do evil". I thought about Black Lives Matter movement and many other groups that go about destroying to promote their causes. I believe God's word is telling us not to join in. I believe God's word tells us not to bear false witness. I believe God's word tells us not to commit adultery. But it seems society feels all these things are ok if it feels good or seems good in some way. We will reap for these actions. We need to turn back to following God. We use to believe in this country a man was innocent until proven guilty, but any more it seems slander is OK as the end justifies the means. God is not pleased. We will stand before God some day to give an account for our lives. God's rules work for the good of society, to allow us to live peaceful lives. We are headed for trouble if we keep going the way we are going. Slander is not OK.  God bless, LVZ.