Friends, in Catholic faith, we are rightly taught to rebuke falsehoods. That means, when someone says something that you know to be a lie about you, you correct them. When your enemies wield their power to deny you, out of hatred and jealousy… they will come up with false excuses about you. They will even throw fits and tantrums. What do you do when you come to learn that multitudes of persons have been accusing you of being racist? And you had no idea? You come to learn it one day; and are somehow not surprised. It seems to explain things.

Friends, what can we do when someone wages false witness against you? What can you do when you are excluded for being outspoken and truthful? What can you do, when you eventually grow weary of their onslaught –  hoping hope of hopes that they care about truth?

I come to this conclusion: in times as these, there are many people who will condemn and exclude you based on false accusations of your character (“character assassination”), by genuine fear in their hearts, rejection of God, or hardened opinions they just can’t shake – based on hearsay about you and unresolved tensions in their own minds. They want what you have. Why would someone be so cruel to damage your reputation in their want? Why would they come to invade you? Can you in response, obsessively go out into the world to convince everyone of such false witness aligned against you (in a world that has active participants of such a lie as this), and often willfully accepts such lies about you? You can. But should you?

I don’t recommend it. If you have to go out of your way, every day, to clear up a lie that others willfully accept about you; and your witness of God to them is rejected, then you at some point have to tolerate that they would prefer to be your enemy than your friend. To realize error in false accusation, requires humility. And, many (both guilty and innocent of false witness) do not have such humility in them! This is a prideful and greedy age, where many seek to force your attention upon them; demanding that you acquiesce to their own ambitions and passions. When someone asks you to “take a knee” for them, they are demanding that you worship them. I do not kneel to my equal!

Friends, we were not born to be approved of by every person. We were born to love, yes, but insatiable desire for approval even to the extent of drawing ire, makes no sense. Dying for your enemy, is love. Dying for your friend, is love.  And, if you choose life, and your love is rejected, unseen, unaccepted, trampled on, or doubted… remember that God loves you, even when your brother chooses to walk away from you. “God is love”. And, people walk away from Him every single day. How much more, do people turn from you! Remember that you can love someone who hates you, and those in the world can choose to condemn you, even if you do not hate them. When someone kills you in cold blood, they gain nothing compared to the value of your life. So, don’t emulate the killer.

If someone should accuse you of racism (for example), to justify their lies, you should tell them you are not a liar and perhaps tell them that they are. But, what to do, if the lie has overcome their own untruthful perceptions in their minds? What do you do, if your enemy pretends to be your brother in arms; but persecutes you in light and curses you in the darkness? Out of love for them, perhaps you choose not to retaliate. Perhaps your silence, is love?

You may make it your weary mission to rebuke them for embracing a lie about you which confounds them, because the lies they believe – seem more credible to them than the truth; but, perhaps it is best to not witness God’s love to someone who rejects God’s love. Perhaps an enemy of yours simply is overwhelmed by the truth, and chooses not to believe the truth about you. Perhaps they don’t want to sit at the table with you, in goodness and cheer? Perhaps they do not want you to have what they have, or what God wants for them? And perhaps, not sitting at the table with them, is just fine… just as well.

We live in days where private communications are stolen, where eavesdroppers misunderstand, where monitors hate the subjects of their prying eyes. This is done for political manipulation, commercial dividends, persecution of good people, out of hatred, and for revenge. But, truth cannot be destroyed. And, if you speak truth, you can expect that some people will not like you for doing so.

Hence, they will call you all kinds of things that are untrue, they will come into your own personal spaces and profane your family. But, all throughout this, God will be pleased with you. And, your future reward will be greater. Remember, that telling lies and providing false witness, is serious. Doing so cannot help you or me, on our path to righteousness and goodness in God’s eyes.

People want what is not theirs. My enemies tell me, “You don’t deserve work, peace, wife, children, home, car, property, God.” But is that true? Enemies will deny me these things. They will rejoice as they persecute me. And, when I love them, they will reject me. And, when they call me “racist”, I will let them, out of love for them. But, at some point, I will have the strength again to tell each of them, personally, that I am not.

Taking what is not freely given, from someone else: their money, their life, their blood, whatever, by scheme, or by force, (even when it seems due) is a great delusion of humanity. It’s in a world, where lies become firmament. A violation and a tactic that has been responsible all throughout history, false witness serves no good. And, that includes white women who make false accusations to police about black men in their midst.

Do privileged, law abiding, black men or women have a legal obligation to love me? No. They do not. A moral one, yes. Do thugs have a legal obligation to love me? No they do not. A moral one, yes. Am I forced to be anyone’s “keeper”, by law. No I am not. Does this mean that I am sending anyone to death? No. Do I have to congregate with or condone criminality? No I do not.

When we witness arrogant, raw, unholy, and aggressive emotions boiling over in people, the provocation is evil. Often the meek, suffer in the worst and deepest way. Policing is difficult, and innocents have died at their hands too. That is true. We confront it.

This past week, I’ve seen images of murder at the hands of police. It’s unjust. But so too, is bearing false witness against “whities” or anyone. So, decide, are you going to be honest about your fellow human beings’ character? Or, are you going to perpetuate the lies for your own short term gain?

To enemies: We have an abundance of leaders. But many “actors” are on the stage. Be a good one. Sue and incarcerate police who engage in unprovoked deadly force, yes. But – retrain your tongues, your demeanor and your attitude every day. Because what you say, does get heard, and has baited people into indifference. And, sadly, some of our private conversations are being used to look for weaknesses where otherwise there would be none.