CONVICTIONS ARE NOT ENOUGH

 I’ve been reading about some individuals with real convictions, individuals willing to oppose the power of the government, individuals who believed their lives and their world-views were rooted in the Bible. 

One of these men was Benjamin Tillman. He held onto his convictions even though many disagreed with him. And he would not be silent. He shared his convictions across the country. Listen to Tillman’s words in response to Theodore Roosevelt appointing William Crum as customs collector in Charleston, an act Tillman believed reflected the president’s faulty political philosophy, an act he believed to be harmful to America, “We still have guns and ropes in the South and if the policy of appointing the Negro to office is insisted upon, we know how to use them.” Crum was a black man; Tillman was a Democratic senator from South Carolina at the beginning of the 20th century.

Yes, like many in the post-Reconstruction South, Tillman was a man of conviction. His courageous stand for his convictions was hardly that. He simply knew he wasn’t alone. Claiming to speak for his fellow southerners, Tillman said, “We of the South have never acknowledged that the Negroes were our equals….” 

I’m going move on from those disgusting words because this post isn’t about racism. We all know Tillman’s words are hateful and immoral (at least I hope we do). But my point is Tillman’s convictions were wrong—even though they were strong. 

Of course, I didn’t have to resurrect an obscure American politician to make my point. Think of the Nazis whose convictions (especially about the Jews) were so strong. Think of those who flew planes into the twin towers and the Pentagon—their convictions were strong. Then, too, think of those who stormed the capitol on January 6; did they have anemic convictions? No. Were they, therefore, right to jeopardize lives and destroy property?  “No,” did you say? But their convictions were so strong.

I was raised in an Evangelical church. I attended “youth rallies” where, as good Evangelicals, we were encouraged to share our faith. This meant being ready to counter any argument raised against becoming a Christian. Speakers told us we would face those who said, “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere.” We should, we were told, counter this fallacy with an analogy like the following. Suppose you are given a large bottle of iodine which someone (a psychopath, no doubt) had labeled “cherry soda.” Thirsty, you drink it down. No matter how strong your conviction that the bottle contained a red sugary beverage, it would kill you. 

Of course, the lesson from those meetings isn’t a “religious” truth; it applies to the world of science as well. Centuries ago, most people embraced the conviction that the sun revolves around the earth. Then, certain scientists—sometimes at great peril—challenged that conviction. They proved their conviction—that the earth moves around the sun—with math and observation. Any conviction—a strongly held belief—needs corroboration.  

Usually, we Americans are generously liberal in allowing our neighbors the freedom of their convictions. If my neighbor believes he was a grilled cheese sandwich in a previous life, so what. If he doesn’t march outside my home to protest my occasionally having such a sandwich with a bowl of soup for lunch, we will probably get along. His convictions don’t really matter.

But this isn’t always true. Another neighbor may believe Ivermectin will prevent or cure COVID-19. Should I allow my neighbor to act on this conviction, allow him to act on his convictions even though he puts his life and the lives of his family members at risk? Should I stand by and admire her acting on her convictions when I am sure she is harming herself? 

Usually, we Americans feel we have an obligation to intervene. For instance, we make every effort to prevent individuals from acting on their convictions that cocaine or heroin is the way to peace and happiness. We may disagree on how to deal with these individuals (jail or therapy), but we all agree we cannot remain indifferent to their self-destructive behavior. I am not ready to force my neighbor to get a vaccination or wear a mask. But neither am I ready to remain silent. My convictions won’t let me.

Recently, I read an essay praising the Southwest Airlines pilots for standing on their convictions until management backed-off their vaccine mandate. The author compared them to Jesus and George Washington—men who stuck to their convictions. As I read, I wondered what the author would have said if Southwest’s executives had stood by their convictions, even at the risk of lost revenues. I doubt they would have been praised. 

Those who refuse the vaccine and eschew the mask (risking their health and the health of others, according to many scientists) may be exercising their rights as Americans and may even be standing up for their convictions. But don’t ask me to applaud them.

Fear: Now and Then

 “I would like to speak briefly and simply about a serious national condition. It is a national feeling of fear and frustration that could result in national suicide and the end of everything that we Americans hold dear.”

Those are not the words of a contemporary politician, columnist, or “influencer” you might find on YouTube; they are the opening words of a speech made by a Republican senator from Maine, Margaret Chase Smith. The words began her “Declaration of Conscience” which she made before the US Senate in June 1950. She was responding to the activities of a fellow Republican senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy. 

Like others from both political camps, Smith believed McCarthy’s usually unfounded claims that Communists had thoroughly infiltrated the State Department and other American institutions were eroding the nation’s confidence. Yet, McCarthy had such influence that even the newly elected Dwight Eisenhower hesitated to criticize him. And any journalist who dared to do so faced a barrage of anger and accusation. Because the “Milwaukee Journal” criticized his antics, the senator told business groups that supporting the newspaper was “contributing to bringing the Communist Party line into the homes of Wisconsin.” Despite flimsy proof or no proof for his accusations, McCarthy won followers.

In many ways, the Cold War thrived on fear. On the radio, there were programs like “I was a Communist for the FBI,” a fictional series following the exploits of an agent who had infiltrated the Party and regularly thwarted Moscow’s numerous plans to undermine America’s freedom. Of course, there was always the implication that somewhere in America there might be plotters who were not thwarted. Comic books distributed in our grade school encouraged us to report any un-American comments made by our teachers. The rumor mill said Saint Louis (a mere fifteen miles from my hometown) was a prime target for Soviet bombers. Though we had air-raid drills in our school, more knowledgeable (i.e., older) students informed us our efforts would be of no use if a bomb struck so close. Never telling my parents, I often lay in my bed wondering if the plane flying over in the night could be carrying a “the bomb.” 

Like today, some religious leaders capitalized on fear to increase their following. My mother, who never voted because she didn’t “trust any of them,” listened to Billy James Hargis and his Christian Crusade. Hargis who said, “All I want to do is preach Jesus and save America,” believed saving America meant accusing any Christian who differed from him of being weak on communism or worse. Hargis opposed Billy Graham (who certainly preached Jesus and was no friend of communism) because he cooperated with non-fundamentalist Christians whom Hargis said were sympathetic to the communist cause, and branded Martin Luther King, Jr as an out-and-out communist. Like McCarthy, Hargis (and his ally Rev. Carl McIntire) won followers by sowing fear.

Of course, fear was used to manipulate the thinking of Americans well before the Cold War.

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns has compared today’s national mood with that of the late Ante-bellum period. I can see that. The nation was divided. Section opposed section. Politicians used fear to foment anger and distrust, especially in the South. There, those who did not own slaves and had little prospect of ever owning even a single slave were told the abolitionists would happily free millions of slaves who at worst would become a murderous hoard threatening their safety and at best a source of cheap labor who would take their jobs. In some of their ugliest rhetoric, these fear-mongers warned that Republicans like Lincoln would allow blacks to vote and marry white women. Secession—inspired, in part, by this campaign of fear—was the course taken by the Southern states despite Lincoln’s insistence he would allow slavery to remain were it was already legal and only bar it in any new states.

(In fairness, I should add that Lincoln’s opponents in the North were just as capable of using fear to stir voters to deny the president a second term. During the 1864 election campaign, the New York Times opined there would soon be a black son-in-law in every Republican family in the city.)

So deeply engrained were these fears that the appearance of the Ku Klux Klan during the Reconstruction period following the war was greeted as a godsend. The Klan’s supporters had no qualms about its penchant for violence toward blacks and any whites who supported the freedmen, especially those northern whites who came to teach the former slaves to read and write; all manner of harassment of the newly freed slaves was acceptable, including lynching. The Klan and scheming politicians robbed African American men of their vote. 

And, of course, many who endorsed the Klan were active church members, professing Christians who would openly shed pious tears at the still popular revival meetings, while their churches supported a racist hermeneutic that taught blacks were cursed, destined to be subservient. 

To me, this is one of the saddest features of today’s situation, that churches are so regularly aiding in creating division and suspicion. They are fostering fear and despair, not faith, hope, and love. 

At long last, McCarthy’s influence was fatally undermined when a bi-partisan vote of the US Senate officially censured the senator in December 1954. Decency prevailed. 

Some modern historians have attempted to rehabilitate McCarthy’s image, claiming recently opened KGB files proved there were spies in high places in the US government. Of course, I know of no historian who claims there were no Soviet spies at work in the nation; but “McCarthyism” thrived on making accusations without proof, of vague claims to have access to secret information (which the senator refused to make public), and character assassination. 

McCarthy’s chief weapon was fear, a weapon freshly honed and newly wielded each generation. Sometimes those brandishing the weapon succeed in dividing the country; sometimes they fail.

At the risk of being simplistic, I think resistance to fear’s power to disorient involves three aspects of our nature. Intellectually, fear can often be combatted with fact. Those who listen only to rumors and outright error are more susceptible to fear than those who ask probing questions and take the time to do more than visit a partisan website. Socially, fear can be resisted with the help of our friends. But only if we have been mature enough to make friends who don’t always agree with us—friends who faithfully listen to our opinions and then gently challenge our assumptions and ask us for our proof.  Spiritually, fear can be combatted with faith. When we keep in mind that God loves us, fear cannot get a grip on our hearts and minds.

Three Words for a Not-So-Happy Trail

 Back in 1955, during the Cold War, an actress known as “the Queen of the Cowgirls,” composed a simple little song recommending qualities the church has long described with the lofty term: “The Theological Virtues.” Dale Evans’s song said, “Have faith, hope, and charity.

That's the way to live successfully. How do I know? The Bible tells me so.”

It’s not a deep song. It doesn’t even define living “successfully.” Though from a subsequent verse we might infer successful living means pleasing God; nothing suggests it means getting rich, having the latest gadget, getting a long-sought promotion. Despite her show business successes, Evans, best known as Roy Rogers’s wife (if you have to look him up, you’re really young), had not escaped pain and loss, yet that didn’t keep her from seeing what is important. But, lest I digress, I’ll move on to a more relevant analysis of this bit of poetry, written when poems still rhymed. 

Relevant because it talks about virtues we could well use today.

FAITH. 

Our faith seems to be at a low ebb. We’ve lost faith in our leaders, lost faith in our institutions; and some, it seems, have even lost faith in God. I get it. Over the past few years, I have been disheartened over the number of pastors and church leaders who have fawned over a man whose attitudes and behaviors would have once inspired jeremiads. Some even argued that opposing this man was as good as being in league with Satan!

Then I think about Elijah, the Old Testament prophet who also tried to communicate with people committed to a leader whose morals had long been jettisoned. Elijah preached to people who didn’t listen, people who had forgotten their own history and heritage. Perhaps he hadn’t lost his faith, but he seemed ready to turn in his notice as a prophet. Frustrated and convinced he alone had remained faithful; Elijah saw no reason to go on living. At this point, God said to Elijah, “Just a minute there, Sunshine, there are lots of good folks who haven’t gone over to the dark side.” (Ok, that’s a bit of a paraphrase.)

If your faith is wavering, maybe you need to broaden your social horizon. Maybe you need to listen to other people than those who continually sing songs of doom and gloom. Maybe you have Facebook “friends” you need to block for thirty days—maybe indefinitely. Maybe you need to expand your reading habits. Read a biography about some man or woman who triumphed over tough times.  If you’ve decided it’s safe to go back to church, take a serious listen to what the pulpit is saying—do the sermons build your faith or do they inspire despair? (This is not an invitation to criticize your pastor; it’s just a reminder that pastors, too, are subject to the general malaise so prevalent right now.) In time, some of us may have to make hard decision about the kind of churches we will support. (Again, I digress.) The point is, nourish your faith; don’t starve it.

Above all perform the exercise that builds faith: Reflect on the blessings God has bestowed on your life and those you know, even as the pandemic impacts our lives.

HOPE.

Hope also seems to be in short supply. It absence may be heard in the words of those who simply say, “I don’t think we will ever get back to normal.” Or in the weary observation of the one who nervously comments, “I’m afraid we are on the verge of another civil war.” And, I can’t help but wonder if some who insist the 2020 election was “stolen” take that position because they saw one man—flawed though he might be—as the key to the future they long for, a future where their beliefs are not mocked, their moral sensibilities are not assaulted, their nation is still respected around the world. In short, this man was their hope. 

Rather than put our hope in those who demand our attention by their bluster, maybe we should look for hope in incidents that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. My friend Tom called my attention to a group of Marine “body bearers” (a unit assigned to help during funerals at Arlington cemetery) who, after serving at four funerals, took a moment to help a woman whose car was stranded in flood waters in Washington, D.C. The incident prompted Tom to say, “There’s hope.” When interviewed about their actions, one of the marines, Cpl. Jered Tosher, insisted what they had done was nothing special. Instead, he hoped such actions might become part of a cycle, saying, "And if people [who benefited from a good deed] just reciprocate that, and do good unto others, I think our country is headed in a good direction." 

Of course, our eternal hope—a hope untouched by the challenges of this life—is in Jesus Christ. Without getting into the intricacies of Christian theology, Christians believe who Jesus is and what he did makes possible real hope. The hope we have for the future changes how we see the present. That hope reminds us that justice will triumph, wrongs will be righted, life will prevail over death. As Tim Keller says, "Our Christian hope is that we are going to live with Christ in a new earth, where there is not only no more death, but where life is what it was always meant to be." 

LOVE. 

Wait, what happened to “charity?” The English language happened to “charity.” While the translation was fine in the early 17th century, most modern translations prefer translating “agapē” as “love.” This is the love that seeks the best for others. Older evangelical theologians called it “disinterested benevolence,” doing good for others with no thought of being repaid or rewarded. It is a love that does not first ask, “What’s in it for me?”

Just consider the fuss over masks. Most of those who complain seem immune to the suggestion they might wear a mask for someone else’s benefit. While many of the anti-vax arguments are spurious (Magnetized. Really?), some might be granted a degree of plausibility; yet the anti-mask arguments seem 98% self-centered. “I can’t breathe when I wear a mask,” some say; this, while millions around the world breathe just fine while wearing a mask.

We know 2020-21 will be remembered for the pandemic and the continuing election fury. Perhaps I should add the “Karen phenomenon.” You’ve seen her in action, usually marked by an explosion of self-centeredness ignited by a conviction of privilege. 

Wouldn’t you enjoy waking to stories about some “Teresa” (such women need a generic name, too) who has committed an unbridled act of kindness while seeking nothing in return, an act that affirms rather than demeans?

With so many voices, on the left and the right, promoting division, outbursts of love are needed in every corner of our world. We need “Teresas” (and “Nicks,” for that matter) to counteract hate and indifference. As with “Karens” (and whoever their male counterparts may be), these purveyors of love can come from every part of society, from millionaires who build social centers in blighted neighborhoods to high schoolers who mow a disabled neighbor’s yard. 

Of course, the great inspiration of this love is Jesus. Look again at the New Testament for illustrations of his love—manifested in acts of benevolence and grace. Throughout the Christian centuries, mystics, sages, theologians, and ordinary believers have understood that close contemplation of Jesus’s love will change how we treat one another. Philip Yancey explains, “One who has been touched by grace will no longer look on those who stray as ‘those evil people’ or ‘those poor people who need our help.’ Nor must we search for signs of ‘loveworthiness.’ Grace teaches us that God loves because of who God is, not because of who we are.” 

One promise of the new birth is that as we continue our pilgrimage our love will become much more like God’s love because of what God’s love is making us.