Keep us steadfast in your true religion
And guide us in the way of justice and truth.
I have two broad concerns this morning. One about the future of liberal democracy in the USA, the other about the faithfulness of the Episcopal Church.
I was brave last night. I watched it. Sister Michelle wisely didn't. Maybe she knew how bad it would be
In the Order of the Ascension we are of one mind about many things -- the value of parish churches, the way in which Benedictine spirituality grounds and focuses us, the brilliance of the Shaping the Parish program and books (smile), and friendship. We also disagree about many things - communion before baptism, the Israel- Hamas War, and the color of our habit.
I think we also agree on the importance of facts, truth and honesty. Several years ago we had conversations about the need to hear voices outside our usual bubble. I think most of us, maybe all of us, have taken that seriously. Our Professed Members lean to the left. Much like the Episcopal Church more broadly. I know that several of us now read David French in the New York Times. He's conservative, evangelical and sane. His writing on the law and issues such as just war theory are thoughtful and often wise.
I know that Sister Michelle and I read the Free Press (FP). Their purpose is something that we agree with, even if they, like we, don't always live up to it. "Here at The Free Press (FP), we believe in honesty. We seek and report the truth, and tell it plainly when we uncover it—even when it’s politically inconvenient." The FP is a bit obsessed about the rise in antisemitism; Michelle and I share that obsession. I think that at times they go over the top. And there are too many far right-wingers in the comment section. But all in all, I come across facts and truth that seem to be ignored in my go-to reading of the New York Times (been reading it most days for 60 years, that and Morning Prayer). .
This morning was like every Friday with Nellie Bowles offering her TGIF posting of snark and inconvenient truth. This morning she noted the real dip in crime "A lot of folks want to say that this is impossible. But all the data tells the same story—crime spiked enormously and now it’s coming down. I love bad news as much as the next junkie, but I fear we must accept this good news." Shortly after reading Nellie's piece another arrived from her wife Bari Weiss -- "They Knew."
Earlier I had read the NYT. Or rather I avoided reading it. It was article after article, columnist after columnist, writing about the awful presentation of the President in last night's debate. I had seen it with my own eyes and I knew what the upshot of all the writing would be.
I was trained to be a high school social studies teacher. So, a lot of history and political science. In seminary it was a good bit of work around the church in Nazi Germany and theology & revolution. I've long been convinced that liberal democracy is the form of government that best advances human dignity as it struggles with the polarity of individual development and the common good. And I fear that Mr. Trump will do serious damage to this nation's form of liberal democracy. If Joe was old and muddled last night, Donald was aggressively dishonest.
Back to Bari Weiss's -- "They Knew." She didn't go after President Biden. She began with this, "Rarely are so many lies dispelled in a single moment. Rarely are so many people exposed as liars and sycophants. Last night’s debate was a watershed on both counts. ... It was a catastrophe for an entire class of experts, journalists, and pundits, who have, since 2020, insisted that Biden was sharp as a tack, on top of his game ... Anyone who committed the sin of using their own eyes on the 46th president was accused, variously, of being Trumpers; MAGA cult members who don’t want American democracy to survive; ageists; or just dummies easily duped by “disinformation,” “misinformation,” “fake news,” and, most recently, “cheapfakes.” Then in detail she unpacked the story with example after example. It reminded me of what happened in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Massive numbers of American communists and their friends left the party when they saw the Soviet tanks roll into Budapest. All the distortions they had accepted for years collapsed in that one event. They had seen it with their own eyes.
I have been mistaken. I trusted that in his daily work the President was doing just fine. I was encouraged by his State of the Union address. I discounted all the images of him looking confused. I'm his age. This morning I sent an email to Sister Michelle asking her to let me know when aging has taken me to a similar place. I'm waiting for her response.
My focus at the moment isn't about the President's abilities. It is about the distortion of truth in my favorite news sources. That's what Ms. Weiss dealt out. Example after example of how we've been nudged to not trust what we have seen. Former President Trump engaged in the same form of lying last night with his claim that police officers had ushered the January 6 mob into the Capital. But we all saw the mob beating police officers and smashing the windows to enter. I could easily see that. But my unconscious bias made it hard to see the dishonesty when it came from my side of things.
And what about the faithfulness of the Episcopal Church?
It's clear to me that the biggest threat to our liberal democracy form of government comes from the political right. It's totalitarian and authoritarian stance may do serious damage in the next few years. It is also clear that there is a threat to truth and honesty in our society coming from the left in the universities, media, and some of the churches. The intense and aggressive desire of some to pin the label of apartheid and genocide on the Jewish state is one example of how we would distort truth. It is a distortion of the truth when we use words that bring to our minds what had been going on in South Africa and Nazi Germany when what might truthfully be said is that in the opinion of some, there is too much discrimination and too high a civilian casualty rate. The left in society and the church is inclined to a form of antisemitism that it is desperate to deny. It isn't even open to an honest exploration of the possibility. There is something obscene about our slow but honest efforts to address our liturgical antisemitism while engaged in efforts to undermine the legitimacy of the Jewish state. On this the Feast of Irenaeus of Lyon I find myself aware of how we on the left in the church have long quoted the saint, “the glory of God is a human being fully alive" while avoiding the full quote, “the glory of God is a human being fully alive, and full human life consists in the vision of God.”
As usual, offer your thoughts and feelings in the comments.
This abides,
Brother Robert
On the Feast of Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, c. 202