All Things Being Equal…

We have all heard the rhetorical phrase “All things being equal.” We have to understand that, when this phrase is used our first thought should be “They generally are not.” Then we can consider the comparison being offered. I bring this up because we sometimes forget that how something is presented is not always a reliable commentary on its content. 

Rhetoric is the means of presenting written or spoken material so that it not only connects with an audience (congregation) but also that it convinces the listener/reader of the argument(s) of the writer/speaker. It neither validates nor does it invalidate the content. We hear and read things every day in which illegitimate connections are made or ill-founded comparisons are promulgated. Critical judgment is always an element of understanding whether we are talking about  a sermon, discourse, speech, newspaper article, novel or non-fiction book. Good speakers and writers invite us to use our critical faculties and do not litter their work with illegitimate comparisons or unnecessary rhetorical flourishes. Another such flourish is the use of the emphatic literal. “This literally means…” generally indicates that the writer/speaker is going to say something that you should accept despite the fact that it is not the “normal” way to understand the term nor the obvious. 

This is significant for being a thoughtful church member as well as an intelligent citizen. We are bombarded with messages designed not to engage our critical faculties but to sneak past them and disarm them. In the church such propaganda is the opposite of proclamation and in political discourse such propaganda substitutes demagoguery for truth-telling.

Keep your guard up. We must be both wise and inquisitive. When someone says “all things being equal” they generally are not and the person saying it knows it.

Now More than Ever?

History is important because it gives us perspective. It broadens us beyond immediate concerns and helps us to place our current circumstances in a much richer context. 

For example; over the last two weeks both political parties (sorry, I don’t like to highlight politics, but stick with  me and I think you will find something important) repeated the same line which I think is simply false. 

“This is the most important election…ever…in our history…ever.” 

This is an example of what I would call “Apocalyptic Nowism”. What is occurring right now is the best, worst, most significant, troubling, scary, dangerous, malicious…you get the point.

Without even doing any research I was able to come up with four elections in our nation’s history which were more important (historically significant) that what we are facing now.

4. 1796. The first real election in our nation’s history. The first time political parties took center stage in the process. George Washington did not stand in the 1796 election so for the first time there was a real contest. And, by the way the results: Adams and Jefferson, President and Vice President respectively  were from the opposing parties. BONUS: When Jefferson finally ascended to the presidency his Vice President (Aaron Burr) shot Alexander Hamilton to death in a duel.

3. 1980. Ronald Reagan was elected President. The Cold War had been “raging” (frosting over, chilly; pick your metaphor) for thirty-five years. By 1991 the Soviet Empire was receding from history.

2. 1860. This election was so contested that 14 states seceded from the Union resulting in the Civil War, still the bloodiest conflict in American History. 

1. 1864. George McClellan, having been cashiered from the Union Army for failing to do any fighting ran as a Peace-Democrat vowing to negotiate the end of the Civil War even if that meant sundering the Union. It was well known that this election was entirely for the preservation of the Union. 

I’m sure there must be others I have overlooked. These four, in hindsight-that is with historical perspective-were from a factual standpoint, more important than the Election which is approaching. 

What the parties should have said is This Election is the next one. When we foreshorten our perspective and always imagine our own is the only significant moment of crisis we are not solving anything. We are only looking under the bed for monsters because we are too embarrassed to say we are scared of the dark.

We are going through a pandemic. It is not the worst one ever. The Flu pandemic killed at least 20 million people. The waves of Black Plague which ravaged Europe for centuries, finally ending in the 17th century killed many more, so many that it is nearly impossible to accurately count. There are parts of Europe which were depopulated by as much as two-thirds. It took hundreds of years for some areas to rebound to pre-plague populations. Yes, it is bad. It is uncomfortable. It is not the worst ever. 

We can extend this analysis in virtually every area of human endeavor. We had economic collapse this year. It has been bad. It does not likely compare to the Irish Potato famine which killed or drove out millions of Irish. It’s not as bad as the Great-depression when banks went belly-up and ruined investors dove out of windows. Don’t even get me started about the great Mycenaean Collapse. 

Christians, of course, view everything (or should) from a Biblically oriented, Theologically sound world view. Even here we must take care. The issues are complex. Our error, Biblically and Theologically, is that we have assumed that ushering in the Kingdom of God is in some way a political enterprise. 

It.

Is. 

Not.

In the Apocalypse John says:

“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”” (Revelation 11:15 ESV)

I hope you are not disappointed to be told that this is not an electoral victory.