II.

TAKING THE NAME OF THE LORD IN VAIN

SINS AGAINST THE SECOND COMMANDMENT

Blasphemy
The act of seriously insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to
God. When we are insulting God in this way, we are doing it out of spite,
hate, contempt, etc. God, being our Lord and Creator, deserves all of our
respect. God is all good. You can’t have any good in the world without the
goodness of God. Thus, when you deny this goodness, you are in essence
denying God.

Cursing
Cursing is the sin of calling on God to inflict some evil or injury on
someone. In a way, cursing is a form of blasphemy. Every curse arises
from hatred of another person, to the point of wanting that person to
suffer at the hands of God.

The malice of cursing is twofold. It is a grave sin against charity. To love

someone is to wish well for that person. To curse someone is to wish evil for
that person. But cursing is also sinful because it invokes the name of a
loving God to ask that someone be harmed. Cursing, therefore, is not only a
failure in love. It is hatred put into practice, and asks God to confirm this
hatred by injuring the one who is hated.

False Oaths/ Perjury

2150 The second commandment forbids false oaths. Taking an oath or

swearing is to take God as witness to what one affirms. It is to invoke the
divine truthfulness as a pledge of one's own truthfulness. An oath engages
the Lord's name. "You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve him,
and swear by his name."81

2151 Rejection of false oaths is a duty toward God. As Creator and Lord, God is the norm of
all truth. Human speech is either in accord with or in opposition to God who is Truth itself.
When it is truthful and legitimate, an oath highlights the relationship of human speech with
God's truth. A false oath calls on God to be witness to a lie.

2152 A person commits perjury when he makes a promise under oath with no intention of
keeping it, or when after promising on oath he does not keep it. Perjury is a grave lack of
respect for the Lord of all speech. Pledging oneself by oath to commit an evil deed is contrary
to the holiness of the divine name.