Wednesday 16 December 2020

Truth and Reason

 I happened to catch sight of an article on John Le Carre in the Guardian the other day, and saw that he had coined the idea of us living in an age of "mob orators who do not speak reason." He goes on to say that they use their communications to fire people up with anger and nostalgia. This gives them a popularity with the mob which they can then use to control whatever institutions pass for democratic ones in their particular country. So we see for instance the largely meek and aquiescent Tories bowing down to Boris Johnson's madnesses. This idea of truth being "whatever you can get away with", (another of Le Carre's phrases), has of course taken the reigns of power with a tight grip in the States. Joe Biden will have a hard job to get the mob to heed the voice of reason with which he will attempt to speak. There will always be the harsh background white noise of Trump's lying and offensive and provocative tweets, backed God help us by some very powerful Christian leaders.

The viscissitudes of the Pandemic, the Brexit problem back home, the Global Climate Crisis, and the Trump noise will stamp their large print on 2021 for sure, and vaccination or no vaccination 2021 will be a tough and challenging year to navigate, particularly since we all have been hoping to see the end of the tunnel in sharp focus near the beginning of the year. As the Bible says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick".

I should have seen the rise of the mob orators coming. After all, most of the very successful preachers pitch their message to the emotions. Whether this was a pitch to the emotions of shame and fear as in our Free Presbyterian traditions in Scotland, or to legitimise the selfish material aspirations of the congregation in the prosperity Gospel messages, or any number of other angles, these churches have flourished. 

So these times need orators who can harness gentle reason to the emotions, and so bring the mob round, away from blame laying and seeing the differently coloured stranger with suspicion and fear, to an open hearted sharing and a spirit of cooperation. That is a tall order, for negativity is easier to harness than a positive attitude. Moreover, reason needs to speak with the voice of love, otherwise she falls at the first hurdle. Truth can be a harsh taskmaster and a dangerous mantra. Only love can really deal with it effectively. That's why the apostle Paul puts love ahead of the pack in his great paean of praise to love in 1 Corinthians 13. Love however seems always to prefer the low, unassuming road, the appearance of defeat, the humble stable, the oppressive Cross. 2021 will be a fascinating year to be in.