Reflection on Mt 5:22

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

The Lord Jesus explains anger with one’s brother in connection with the Fifth Commandment: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you…” Jesus speaks here as the divine Lawgiver. He emphasizes: “But I say to you…” Then He speaks of three degrees of the expression of anger, almost hatred. Firstly, there is the one who is angry and unwilling to forgive. Jesus says in another place, too, that such a one will not be forgiven – it means that he will be liable to judgment. He who insults his brother will answer for it. And if anyone spreads malicious slander about his brother and calls him a fool or, in other words, a mentally ill person, with the intention of morally destroying – killing – him and removing him from social life, he will be liable to the hell of fire.

We must keep guard over our thoughts, our heart and our words, if anyone has a complaint against another. Even a mere half-truth can hurt a lot and, like slander, can hardly be corrected. However, one must also take into account another aspect, as mentioned by Saint Basil, namely that there are two cases when it is necessary to publicly point out someone’s negatives without it being considered slander. The first one is when there is a danger of evil being treated as good. And the other one is the need to correct a sinner.

There are people who suggestively misuse the truth in order to promote evil. Evil is then treated as good. Deception must be brought to light to ensure that there is no risk of harmfully deceiving others or the general public. One therefore needs to be highly critical especially of the mass media that currently portray lies and evil as truth and good. Those who naively trust them bring harm to themselves and to others. US President Trump himself said about mass media: “And they will lie, lie and lie even more!”

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