Lies and Oppression

Truth-telling has come to be seen as mean-spirited, bigoted, nasty. Truth-telling is hateful, we have come to believe. Soothing lies are often preferred.

Solomon sees things different. “A lying tongue hates those it crushes” (Proverbs 26:27). That carries two implications, each of which has a converse.

First, it indicates that lies are hateful; when we lie, we treat another as an enemy (and this is why lying to enemies is condoned in the Bible). Conversely, truth-telling is an act of love. Second, Solomon is saying that lies crush, oppression, and beat down. Conversely, truth liberates.

Our media, our government, our educational system, our scholars, our pastors and priests, tell us lies on a regular basis. And it is the calling of the church to expose those lies and to tell the truth, for the sake of the oppressed.