Hearsay About A Chicken Crossing The Road

The first question we should ask is, "What reliable proof do
we have that the chicken actually crossed the road?"

"It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell." 

From James 3 (the Message)

You've probably heard the Jewish tale about someone guilty of slandering a fellow citizen in their town, then feeling remorse and going to his rabbi to ask for forgiveness. The wise rabbi tells him that he would do so on one condition, that he first go home, cut up a feather pillow, scatter the feathers to the wind and then return.

Relieved, the man promptly does as he is instructed and comes back to receive his pardon, only to be told there was one more thing he must do, go and gather up all the feathers.

“But that’s not possible. The wind has already scattered them.”

“True, nor is it possible to truly correct what you have done, or to undo the harm your words have caused,” says the rabbi.

Ouch.

In my role as a counselor, I've frequently been called to be a witness in a custody or a divorce case, where I must first swear or affirm to tell "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." 

The purpose of that ritual is not just to remind me to be an honest witness when I'm on the stand, but it puts me in a position that if I say something demonstrably false I can be indicted for perjury. In Virginia that is a Class 5 felony for which I could be fined up to $2,500 or spend up to ten years in jail. 

I am also often reminded by counsel that as a witness I should just respond to the questions asked, not go off on any tangents in expressing my own judgments about a matter.

So if I were to begin any of my answers with "I heard somewhere that.." or "It's likely that..." or "I've been told that..." or "I read somewhere that..." I'd be likely to have a defendant's attorney quickly interrupt with an objection, stating that what I've said is "hearsay" and is inadmissible. And if the judge agreed, that part of my testimony would be struck from the record. In other words, unless I have personally witnessed what I'm giving testimony to, and/or have something documented as a part of my case record, it is not considered valid.

Sometimes an attorney will ask the judge to have me designated as an "expert witness," which means I can draw from my professional training as a counselor and can cite things that have to do with scientifically supported findings. For example, I could offer an opinion about how a person's major depressive disorder might have affected his actions, or how someone diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia might have reacted when experiencing a threat.

But in every case, a witness under oath has to follow strict guidelines that govern what is considered the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminds us that we are always to speak as if "under oath" in the sense that we are always in the presence of God as the ultimately just and all-wise Judge. So whatever we affirm with a "Yes" must pass the truth test, and likewise what we deny with a "No".

In other words all words matter. No exceptions. 

In a time when social media and our community grapevines are abuzz with vile rumors, conspiracy theories and hate-fueled falsehoods about political figures and affiliations, it's important to remember such warnings against bearing false witness. We are all in God's courtroom, every day, accountable for every word. And as author Paul Myers, writes, “Gossip is like a fired bullet. Once you hear the sound, you can’t take it back.”

So if we actually witness a chicken crossing the road, metaphorically speaking, or witness someone crossing some legal or moral line that puts them and/or others in danger (or if they are clearly inciting others to do criminal and dangerous things) we should first intervene in private when possible, according to Jesus. Then if the person refuses to hear us, we are to invite others to join us in an appeal for change. Or if it is a public figure, we should avoid identifying with, or enabling, such behavior, and to call out any harmful falsehoods wherever and whenever we can.

So to use the "chicken crossing the road" analogy, we should make sure to be credible witnesses in describing any crossing of a line, and not just be carelessly scattering accusatory feathers in the wind that may or may not have come from chickens who have indeed crossed forbidden roads.