LEV353 Witnesses in court testify under oath and in God's name ("so help me God"), or affirm, with the understanding that they are doing so in God's Name, that they are telling the truth (Obviously, atheists do not swear or affirm in God's Name, but they are a very small percentage of the population.) Therefore, lies told in court constitute a Chillul Hashem ("profanation of God's Name), since they associate God with a lie: "And don't take an oath, then lie in My Name and profane the Name of your Lord" (this verse; the prohibition against bearing false testimony is also one of the Ten Commandments; Exodus 20:13). [(Because of the profanation of God's Name, the Bible regards perjury as among the worst of crimes and, in writing of the punishment inflicted on perjurers, appends, "And you shall wipe out the evil from your midst" (Deuteronomy 19:19)]. Furthermore, since justice is so important a commandment (the Torah ordains, "Justice, Justice you shall pursue"; Deuteronomy 16:20), thwarting justice undermines a society. It is bad enough that a society contains criminals and corrupt individuals. If, however, the justice system itself is corrupt, then there is no hope for the society to improve itself. Therefore, lying under oath undermines a society's hope of being, or becoming, just.