“There is none so blind as he who will not see.
We must not close up minds. We must let our thoughts be free.” (From “Everything is Beautiful” by Ray Stevens
I had never heard of Charlie Kirk until two days ago when he was shot and killed in Utah. If I had I would have disagreed with almost everything he stood for. What I have learned about him in the last 24 hours indicates he was instrumental in converting many vulnerable young Americans to the Trump political campaign that gave us a disastrous threat to our democracy.
That saddens me greatly, but it does not in any way justify violence against those who hold different political views, even diametrically opposed ones. Gunning down any young husband and father is cause for grief and one more reason America needs to do serious introspection about the state of our political divisions.
One thing I can heartily agree with Kirk on is his defense of free speech and his willingness to engage in dialogue with those who disagreed with him. I suspect, although I don’t know, that his public debates with those who came to hear him may have been largely political theater. Regardless of that, the principle of our constitutional right to freedom of expression must not be lost in the grief or the debate that will follow this latest mar on America’s image.
The commentaries and testimonials about Charlie Kirk have gotten me thinking about eyes and eyesight, not from an ophthalmological perspective, but from a theological one. Back in 2016 when Donald Trump was running for President the first time I read about an interview where a reporter asked Trump what his favorite Scripture is, and his response confirmed my already low opinion of him. He said his favorite Scripture was “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” revealing how stunted and misguided his faith development is. Those who never get past Deuteronomy or even read the first book of the New Testament where Jesus directly repeals that revengeful notion of justice have a very low, un-Christlike theology. (Cf. Deuteronomy 19:21 and Matthew 5:38-39)
I love the quote from Mahatma Gandhi that says, “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.” Gandhi like Jesus knew that violence and retribution never solve anything. One offense leads to a counterattack, verbal or physical. One war only sews the seeds of the next one. Jesus’ unpopular advice to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39) when someone hurts you is not about weakness but about the courage to stop the ever-escalating cycle of violence.
One of the other familiar quotes attributed to Jesus about eyes is, “Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5)
Those words from the Sermon on the Mount should serve as a reminder to all of us to prioritize a careful examination of our own faults and biases before we level criticism at others. I know that when I have even a tiny speck of dirt in one of my eyes it itches and waters and I cannot see clearly until I can get it out. The same is true of our spiritual vision, especially when it comes to our feelings and opinions about the beliefs, words, and actions of those we disagree with.
For example, as soon as I read a news alert on my phone about the death of Charlie Kirk on one of my favorite left-leaning news outlets and learned that he was a big Trump supporter, all of my assumptions and biases about the whole MAGA community kicked in. The fact that I didn’t even know who Kirk was speaks volumes about my failure to listen to voices from opposing political perspectives.
I am still very uncomfortable that this spokesperson for what I believe to be undemocratic and dangerous views is being made into a hero and martyr. I am also incredibly upset that President Trump and his supporters who are speaking eloquently about free speech need to take the logs out of their own eyes. When a government servant shares economic reports that run counter to the Trump narrative and is summarily fired, that is not freedom of speech. When a Federal Reserve governor stands up to the President over economic policy and the President attempts to fire her, that is not freedom of speech.
When the head of the CDC refuses to sign off on policies that fly in the face of scientific evidence and is fired for her integrity, that is not freedom of speech. When the President’s entire cabinet spends whole cabinet meetings offering flowery praises to the President instead of engaging in productive debate and collaboration, that is not freedom of speech. When the entire GOP membership of the House and Senate are too fearful to do their constitutional duty of providing checks and balances on the President, that is not freedom of speech.
And finally, when flags are lowered to half-mast for Charlie Kirk but not for Democratic legislators killed in Minnesota or for dozens of innocent school shooting victims, or for anyone else not aligned with the Trump philosophy, that is not freedom of speech. That is pure partisan propaganda.
We desperately need freedom of speech, but it has to work both ways or it is not free. The future of our democracy is at a scary tipping point. If we demonize and refuse to see our common humanity with even those we feel are political enemies, the death of Charlie Kirk and other political leaders will fuel a continuing spiral of decent into chaos and military take overs of our cities.
But if we remove the proverbial logs out of our own eyes and make a disciplined effort to see every human as a sister or brother then there is still hope that our fragile democracy can be preserved. It’s a choice, as Ray Charles reminds us, “There is none so blind as he/she who will not see. We must not close up minds. We must let our thoughts be free.”
Tag: Matthew 7:3-5
Blinded by Logs and/or $ucce$$
I am still affected by the motto in my childhood home which said “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” But I am also a believer in what Jesus said about the truth setting us free. This post may or may not be a rant about the current state of our nation and world, and it may not be “nice;” so be forewarned.
The current extreme weather all over our country makes me wonder what more it will take before everyone can see that we and our planet are in deep do do? I just read an article about the ocean waters around Florida heating up much faster than usual this summer and threatening to kill the coral. Farmer’s Insurance is pulling out of Florida because of extreme weather threats. And what is the Governor of Florida doing to save his state? Nothing but trying to drag it back into the 19th century!! Are the fossil fuel felons of the world and the politicians they own so blinded by their wealth and profits that they can’t see the flooding in Vermont and the triple digit temperatures in the Southwest? Are they so deaf they can’t hear that the all time record for the earth’s temperatures have been broken multiple days in a row this month?
Meanwhile, in our nation’s capitol one football coach from a former Confederate state is single handedly weakening our military by holding up confirmation of hundreds of military officers because of his personal beliefs about reproductive rights. Who in the world wrote rules for the United States Senate that empower one senator out off 100 to hold the other 99 hostage?? How in God’s name is that even possible in a democratic government??
And across the pond Putin’s diabolical attack on Ukraine has now been committing war crimes for over 500 days. Yes, I’m glad NATO is stepping up and has recovered from Trump’s undermining of it, and that’s great; but at what cost in dollars and lives? And I don’t even want to think about the epidemic of gun violence in this country that just keeps getting worse. It is such a common occurrence now that mass shootings are not even headline news anymore. What in the world is the flaw in human nature that we cannot find ways to solve our differences without reverting to violence?
I had two short vacation trips recently where I visited historical sights that played key roles in American history. One was the Fort Pitt museum at the confluence of Pittsburgh’s three rivers. Being a strategic point in the 18th century for control of the land called the Northwest Territory the victory over the French at Fort Pitt is celebrated for securing the advancing settlement of that land by the British and the American pioneers who followed. The second place I visited was the Perry Monument in Lake Erie commemorating Commodore Perry’s victory over the British in the War of 1812. That victory secured American control of the Great Lakes and provided another critical commercial and settlement route into the Great Lakes region.
What struck me about both of those places was first that violence as usual was used to take control of desired territory, and second that almost no attention in the accounts offered in either place about these military victories paid any attention to the fact that there were Native Americans living on this land long before the Europeans arrived, and the might-makes-right doctrine of dominion trumped all other concerns that should be so obvious to an objective observer.
In all of these cases humans were and continue to be blinded to truth and justice by a political and economic system built on greed for power and wealth with no long-term concern for the consequences of our actions. How ironic in a country that calls itself “Christian” when the Christ we claim to follow said very clearly in the Sermon on the Mount that “You cannot serve God and wealth.” (Matthew 6:24)
I thought I would end there until it hit me like a foul ball lined into the stands—what my ancestors did to the people living here first is no different than what Putin is doing in Ukraine! My rant against the speck in Putin’s eye blinded me to the log in our own. I don’t know why I didn’t see that much earlier, but I didn’t. I need some time to sit with that, and it won’t be comfortable.
Preaching to the Choir
What’s wrong with preaching to the choir? Someone commented recently that she thought most political ads at this point in the campaign are just “preaching to the choir.” Whoever the intended targets are most political ads are a terrible waste of money that could be used to actually do some good, and I just want them to stop! I plan to vote early this week and how I wish that would somehow trigger a magic switch somewhere in cyber space that would exempt me from hearing or seeing any more hateful negative ads.
But my friend’s comment got me wondering about “preaching to the choir.” We all know it means unnecessarily trying to persuade people of something when they are already convinced. Anyone can sell a product or an idea to those who have already decided to buy, I get that. But consider “preaching to the choir” more literally. With all due respect to musicians who faithfully give of their time and talent in church or elsewhere, I would argue that choir members need to hear the Gospel just as much as anyone else, preachers included. In fact I’ve known both choir members and preachers who need to hear God’s Word more than other folks.
That understanding of what preaching to the choir or those already converted reminds me of something Dr. Everett Tilson, one of my seminary mentors often told us many years ago. He said, “You can’t understand the Scriptures until you are willing to stand under them.” Both the judgment and grace of God are for all of us, saints and sinners alike and we need to hear it early and often, especially in campaign season. As St. Paul put it, “For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And “all” means all, no exceptions, no deferments. Christ died for all of us fallible human beings, and we are in great danger if we ever forget that. When we are tempted to judge others as more sinful or less worthy of God’s love, we are treading on very thin ice.
Humility is a very basic requirement of faith. As any regular reader of mine knows, Micah 6:8 is my default summary of what is required of a faithful follower of God, and the final item in that verse is “to walk humbly with your God.” (See my 10/4/15 post “Finding Our Way Back to God: The Search for Meaning” for a discussion of that text in more depth.) The same advice from a negative perspective is given in the familiar adage that “pride goes before a fall.” But if you check out the biblical source of that proverb, the consequences of pride are much worse than a just a fall. What Proverbs 16:18 says in full is “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Pride is such a serious problem that it comes in at number 4 on the Roman Catholic list of seven deadly sins.
Wouldn’t you think with all those dire warnings there would be less ego and more humility around? But just the opposite seems to be the case in our selfie-crazed society. Dare I say especially in campaign season there is a plethora of hubris in the air? One of the big problems with pride is that it often gets expressed not by building ourselves up but by putting others down so we look better by comparison. If truth be told most of our visits to eye doctors would include a reminder that part of the trouble with our vision is that we can’t see the logs in our own eyes because we are too busy criticizing others for the tiny specks in theirs. (Matthew 7:3-5 and Luke 6:42).
I could go on showing off my biblical prowess by proof texting many other references to pride, but that doesn’t seem wise at this point. An image of stones and a glass house comes to mind! And yes, in this age of digital transparency where all of our actions can be captured on cell phone video and all of our tweets are fair game for public exposure, we all live in glass houses, including the choir. The prescribed antidote for pride is a regular reminder for all of us that the peace of mind and heart we crave never comes from the fame and recognition worldly values tempt us to pursue. It comes only to the humble who know that “the greatest of all is servant of all.” (Mark 10:44).
By the way, that bit about the glass houses isn’t biblical, but it’s close to Jesus’ daring those of us who are without sin to cast the first stone. (John 8:7).
Humbly yours, as one who can’t sing a lick, but I know I belong in that chorus who need to stand under the Scripture.
Peacefully Harsh 