Doing What You Say You Will

The Pharisees had gotten around the commandment to not bear false witness, by saying that oaths to the Lord had to be fulfilled, but oaths based on other things (their life, their head, the temple, the gold of the temple, etc.) could be left unfulfilled. Thus, the Pharisees had a gradation of oaths, from least-binding to most-binding, and used this system to their own benefit. In a similar fashion, our relativistic age finds ways to promise one thing but do another. As our belief in absolute truth wanes, so too does our adherence to absolute honesty and integrity. We are so used to the idea that our decisions should change based on circumstances, that kept promises are quickly becoming a thing of the past.