Bearing False Witness

As we consider "You shall not bear false witness," the most significant breaking of this law is in testifying in legal proceedings. That is where God prescribes that you receive the same punishment as would have been received if your perjury had been successful, meaning it could be punished with death. Bearing false witness against your neighbor can be done in many more ways than that. When we use words to tear down others, especially with falsehoods, we are in violation of this commandment. Much of the news media is now focused on breaking this commandment. They seem to enjoy the power to tear people down by declaring people "racists" without the need for evidence. There is a reason why all of the treason and insurrection charges that are made in the media are not adjudicated in courtrooms, because in America there is still some vestige of requiring evidence at trials. When we constantly are immersed in hearing opinions called facts, we should not expect seeking truth in trials to continue. We should ask ourselves when we bear false witness. When do we try to tear people down with our words? The Hebrew doesn't mean just to speak false testimony, it also means to heed false testimony. Do we put up with people saying false things that tear down other people, because they agree with our preconceived notions?