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.