Slander doesn’t just damage reputations—it robs people of peace, dignity, and standing, making it a form of theft as well as false witness. In this chapter, Rushdoony draws out the deep interconnection between lying, stealing, and slander in biblical law, showing how corrupt speech violates both the eighth and ninth commandments. True speech nourishes community; slander destroys it. As he explains, no society can flourish—economically, morally, or spiritually—where words are weaponized and truth is cast aside.
