Glenn Melancon
I think it is safe to say that the modern conservative movement prides itself as the defender of Judeo-Christian values. Like the Sadducees and the Pharisees in the Gospels they love public displays of religion. Every year professional conservatives stir up fake controversies like the “War on Christmas.”
For well over ten years, conservative politicians paraded their religion in front of television cameras. One of their favorite tricks was to publicly profess their identity by displaying the Ten Commandments. Some like Judge Roy Moore of Alabama used tax dollars to carve an idol of the Commandments.
These politicians wanted to declare their own righteousness in the public square. The conservative media played along. Talking heads praised these unconstitutional government employees and disparaged any critics.
These modern “Sadducees and Pharisees” were not really interesting in taking care of the least of us. No, they wanted to use the Ten Commandments as stones to throw at others. The assessment might sound harsh but let’s look at one commandment in particular: “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” (Deuteronomy 5: 20).
This commandment is repeated and expanded in Exodus: “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness. Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit.” (Exodus 23:1-3)
Should conservatives, who promote the commandments as the bedrock of Western Civilization, have difficulty understanding that bearing false witness is a sin? Should conservatives have a hard time understanding “that being a malicious witness” is a sin?
I ask these questions because Fox News owner, Rupert Murdock, swore under oath that his employees lied to viewers. In November and December of 2020 Fox News lied about the Presidential election results.
We know about these intentional lies because Fox News damaged a private business: Dominion Voting Systems. Dominion makes voters machines and Fox News hosted malicious witnesses, who falsely testified that the machines stole votes from Donald Trump.
Fox News executives allowed the malicious witnesses because they didn’t want to alienate their viewers. Viewers generate ratings. Ratings generate profits. At the least these revelations should embarrass Fox News and the conservative movement.
Conservatives might have avoided this hypocrisy if they had lived the Ten Commandments, instead of parading in front of them. They should have also read Timothy: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”