Drowning in Deceit
Persistent, purposeful deception is effective but Christians won't give up on the truth.
Back in January I wrote about my ambivalence about publicly opposing the Trump-MAGA movement during this election cycle.
I'm hesitant to join my voice with these others in part because it can sometimes feel like voicing opposition is less about attempting to change someone's mind than about demonstrating my righteousness to those who are already convinced. And that's another reason I'm slower to say publicly the obvious things about the destructiveness of the former president's rhetoric and policies: I'm not sure how effective it is.
Recently I’ve found myself doubting this tactic. For example, before the Republican candidate’s speech at the convention I posted on social media, “Donald Trump is an unrepentant abuser, racist, insurrectionist, thief, and liar. Let's not get tired of telling the truth.” What has me wondering about my previous posture toward this political moment is less about the first sentence in that post. The content of Trump’s character has been revealed repeatedly and there’s nothing impressive about pointing out his tendency toward harm. No, what I’ve been grappling with is the part about telling the truth. It seems the deceptions which flow unceasingly from the Trump-MAGA movement are having their intended impact: exhaustion and disengagement.
Reading about the history of totalitarian movements reveals the effectiveness of consistent, overwhelming deception. The point is to obfuscate the truth, to make it seem beyond the comprehension of ordinary people. In a 1967 essay, “Truth and Politics,” Hannah Arendt observed that “the result of a consistent and total substitution of lies for factual truth is not that the lies will now be accepted as truth, and the truth be defamed as lies, but that the sense by which we take our bearings in the real world – and the category of truth vs. falsehood is among the mental means to this end – is being destroyed.”
I doubt I’m alone in sensing that we’re currently experiencing this sort of purposeful barrage of deceit. (Is it necessary to point to specific examples anymore? Trump’s speech was “the most dishonest speech of the four-day Republican National Convention.”) Yes, there are still those who meet the lies of the Trump-MAGA movement with reality, not from partisan motivations but out of simple devotion to the truth. Anecdotally though, it seems many of us have simply been worn down by duplicity and disinformation. And once the majority have resigned themselves to the inaccessibility of truth, our politics will take us to some terrible places.
The urgency of the truth is a profoundly Christian concern. While others are sorting themselves into partisan camps, Christians swear singular allegiance to “the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6) Our God does not lie (Numbers 23:19), an attribute we are also meant to exhibit (Colossians 3:9). Resigning ourselves to deception is to align ourselves with the devil who “is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) In other words, for Christians, the difference between truth and untruth is not a difference in partisan loyalty; it is the gulf between the God who just is truth and the architect of all deception.
In this political moment, then, it is our Christian responsibility to seek the truth and, when besieged by deceit, to tell the truth plainly, boldly, and repeatedly. When others quit contending for truth, we’ll keep at it.
Easier said than done, right? Absolutely! But not impossible. In my next newsletter, drawing from The Ministry of Reconciliation: Spirituality and Strategies by Robert J. Schreiter, I’ll reflect on a few practical ways we can devote ourselves to discerning and telling the truth in the tumultuous days ahead.
Plundered Updates
Last week I finished recording the audio version of the new book. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was a fun process! Except for mis-pronouncing “Anthropocene,” a word I used way too often given how complicated it is (for me) to get right. Yesterday I got to spend a few hours with the InterVarsity Press marketing and sales teams. It was fun to hear their plans for getting the word out about the book in the next couple of months.
Lastly, if you’re in the Chicago area, I’d love for you to join us on Sunday evening, September 29 for a book release event. More info soon!
The View From Here
After a recent beach day at Warren Dunes State Park, our family stopped for some ice cream before the 90 minute drive back to Chicago. Is it possible to eat too much ice cream in the summertime?