Real Christians Don't Lie

Yesterday Lewis Libby was indicted by Grand Jury on 1 count of obstructing justice, two counts of giving false statements and 2 counts of perjury in regard to the CIA leak investigation.

Of note, in the television footage of those affected in our administration, all seemed in good humor and smiling, even Mr. Libby.

In fact, it has been astounding to me that the people responsible for over 2000 American deaths, the catastrophic wounding of 40,000 American soldiers, 40,000 (and probably many more) Iraqi civilian deaths and the unleashing of terrorism on the Iraqi citizenry always come across as happy and unaffected by the damage they set in motion.

Reporter Judith Miller, up to now, has been the only one to suffer for her acts.

Her contribution was to act as a media puppet for the White House message that we in the U.S. had no choice but to invade Iraq given the alleged, imminent threat it was said to pose.

Judith Miller wound up spending time in jail, not for her role in contributing to the tragedy of Iraq - for it isn't a crime to repeat White House lies as though they are truth - but to protect a White House source. This demonstrates God's ironic sense of humor to me.

Now one of the architects of the war, Lewis Libby, has been indicted - not for kindling support for the war - but for obstructing an investigation into who outed Valerie Plame.

This seems a clear case of As ye sow, so shall ye reap.

Yet no one seems penitent and no one is apologizing.

One of two things is going on. The first possibility is that Mr. Libby and others in this Administration all have so much faith in Mr. Libby's innocence - and faith in God - that they cannot take these charges seriously.

If so, I envy them their faith, for innocent people are often taken aback and very concerned by any kind of legal charge, much less one so serious.

The other possibility is that these men are all so powerful and well-protected that they feel immune from the law and sure these charges are just a joke to be gotten around. Remember, President Bush can always pardon anyone indicted when he is about to leave office.

Yet, it is important to understand these proceedings are not a joke, nor were they undertaken lightly. They began after a covert CIA officer was outed and that outing sent a message to all such agents that they not only face danger from foreign governments, but from their own, and at the whim of political expediency.

It is strongly suspected that the reason this particular agent was betrayed was because her husband was a whistleblower regarding one of the lies we were told in order to justify the invasion of Iraq.

However, the Grand Jury could not get to the bottom of this, to determine if this was true or not. Why? They allege, after two years, that they were unable to see the truth because Lewis Libby lied about it and worked to obstruct their view.

This Administration claims to operate out of Christian principles. Yet we have caught it in one lie after another, to serve the political ends of its elite supporters and power brokers. While we cannot presume Lewis Libby is guilty of lying, it would not, frankly, surprise us because it fits a pattern we have seen for the last five years.

Yet, the Bible is very clear about lying, especially lying which leads to the death of others.

Keep far from a false matter, do not kill the innocent and the righteous. Exodus 23:7

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death. Proverbs 21:6

But if you have...self-seeking in your heart...Lie not against the truth. James 3:14

All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. Revelations 21:8

Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. Acts 5:4

Saying one is a Christian means nothing. Anyone can invoke God's name for what he or she does. Only the measure of how closely a person walks the talk of Jesus ultimately shows one's true intentions. And Jesus never lied.