"In spiritual matters there really is no 'Third World.' It's all Third World."
- Dallas Willard
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Lars nails it. I've excerpted parts of what he posted below, but, as they say, go read the whole thing.
It’s perfect Leftist logic—If you act like me, you’re an awful person.
(By the way, this is an argument every victim of abuse is extremely familiar with, which is probably one reason why I react so strongly to it.)
The logic (as I’ve mentioned before) seems to be, “We can do it, because we don’t believe in moral absolutes. But since you do believe in moral absolutes, if you act like us you’re hypocrites. And thus evil. It’s only evil when a hypocrite does it, you see. So we can do anything we want, but you have to obey a higher standard.”
. . .
Take the case of Carrie Prejean, the Miss USA finalist who probably lost the contest because she stated (in a pretty namby-pamby fashion, to be honest) her conviction that marriage should be limited to male-female couples. (Interestingly, pageant officials criticized her for not suppressing her true convictions, in order not to give offense. In other words, she should have been a hypocrite in this case. It’s pretty hard to please the Left.)
Today the news is that somebody came up with some nude or semi-nude photos Miss Prejean posed for a few years back (I haven’t seen them; can’t comment on their tastefulness or sleaze).
There is a message here, and very clear one. Oppose us, and we will deploy vast resources to destroy your reputation. “You’ve got a nice life here. It would be a shame if anything were to happen to it.”
We’ve seen it before, and it shows no sign of letting up. Our opponents honestly believe that, because we are all bigoted, ignorant hypocrites, it is not only not wrong, but positively virtuous to destroy us without mercy.
What I haven’t worked out is how to respond to this.
Do we fight fire with fire? Are we even able to do that, in light of our massive inferiority in terms of media support?
Do we take a “turn the other cheek” approach, trusting that the American people, in the long run, are decent, and will repudiate such tactics? (Harry Reid seems to be counting on that, and it really irks me to play into the hands of such as he.) And I don’t believe “do as you would be done by” applies to government matters in general. (If they did, the government couldn’t levy taxes or punish criminals.) But government and politics are different things, so I’m not sure how far to stretch it.
I just don’t know.
I do know I’m getting angry.
Trackbacks:
Trackback URL: http://thinklings.org/bloo.trackback.php/5399.
Comments on "Don't Do As I Say Or Do":
2. Bill
- 05/06/2009 6:46 am CDT
Good words, Diane.
The struggle I have is that (regardless of what decisions Miss California made early in life and, really, regardless of whether she's a Christian or not) this is an injustice. We've seen it several times now - Joe the Plumber, Miss California, Chrysler investors, etc. It's the tactic of the left to pound flat anyone who raises their head and questions the conventional wisdom about the wisdom of the One, or morality, or anything. Provided, of course, the person being pounded flat is one of the "little people". We've gone, in one decade, from being able to say that of course Marriage is between male and female, to having that statement decried as bigoted (even though our President reportedly agrees with Miss California).
Do you think anyone else is going to stand up, in a public forum, and state what she said on this issue anymore? It's not worth it - they unleash the furies on you.
Part of Kingdom living is to endure ridicule and persecution for what we believe (and as far as I know this young lady has done an admirable job of staying civil about this - but I haven't been watching the news much). Another aspect is to stand up and defend others who are treated unjustly. I'm not sure how that all balances out.
Ultimately, of course, God will defend those who are His.
3. Bob Sacamento
- 05/06/2009 8:23 am CDT
I do know I’m getting angry.
Getting? Man, this has been going on for a decade now, at least.
Do you think anyone else is going to stand up, in a public forum, and state what she said on this issue anymore? It's not worth it - they unleash the furies on you.
And this despite the fact that a clear majority of Americans are on her side. Truly amazing.
Do we take a “turn the other cheek” approach, trusting that the American people, in the long run, are decent, and will repudiate such tactics?
We might be called on to do this as a matter of principle. But I wouldn't trust that it will in any way lead to justice being done.
But I don't know that fighting fire with fire will work either. The tactic works for the left because, if you can show that some like Miss California isn't everything the right hoped she would be, the right might very well throw her under the bus (though this hasn't happened in this case yet). But if the right vilifies someone on the left, the left always responds, "Well, he may be a snake in the grass, but he's our snake in the grass." Witness Bill Clinton.
4. Bill
- 05/06/2009 8:32 am CDT
I don't think we should fight fire with fire. As Christians, we mustn't. But I do think we have a duty, somehow, to defend those who are targeted for destruction.
That's the subtle shift here - the Clintons decried the "politics of personal destruction", but at least in those days the targets were people that were in the political game. In the past few years, the targets have become private citizens.
And regarding the latest smear. I haven't seen the pictures, and don't want to, but my understanding from some who have is that she is wearing underwear. Not smart. Not porn either.
And, it doesn't matter - what matters is that a citizen expressed an opinion, but it is an opinion contra to the reigning sentiments of the Left, so that citizen must be destroyed.
5. GinH
- 05/06/2009 9:46 am CDT
If we don't stand with people that speak out now, this won't be the country we love for much longer. It will look more like Gulag Russia than America. And normally I d say that was a slippery slope argument, but nowadays I'm not so sure. I feel like we re halfway down the slope.
And Bill, I'm angry too. Mostly because I feel helpless, like there's nothing we can do. Yeah, yeah vote and all that. Look how many Christians voted for this, my vote is literally inconsequential when put up next to the big show and the democratic press corp.
To some extent don't we have to fight fire with fire? I don't mean the destroying people part, but don't we have to figure out how to play hard ball if we re going to keep our country a representative republic??
6. Bob Sacamento
- 05/06/2009 10:06 am CDT
And normally I d say that was a slippery slope argument, but nowadays I'm not so sure. I feel like we re halfway down the slope.
There's nothing wrong with a slippery slope argument when powerful people are demonstrably attempting to push us down that slope.
7. Evan
- 05/06/2009 10:49 am CDT
Another of my favorite quotes from CS Lewis is part of a letter he wrote to his friend Arthur Greeves in 1930:
I am really trying to become more charitable, and I think I can at least admire charity in another. But I don't think Christie's is of the right brand. He always seems to select the really evil people to defend: and the next moment you find him being extraordinarily hard on some harmless old man because he is a bore. I suppose there is such a thing as imagining you have got beyond the stage of hating bad men, when it reality you haven't got as far as hating them. Divine charity much be very different from human truckling to bullies, or human indulgence for rotters because they are amusing: I doubt if Christie knows the difference.
I know I can be guilty of this myself, God help me be more charitable.
But it does seem a increasingly prominent feature of the left these days. We have to truckle to bullies like Castro, Chavez, and Ahmadinejad. We're supposed to gossip about and laugh at the hedonism of the Hollywood crowd. But we're supposed to save our deepest scorn and wrath for 'the simpletons' who aren't 'progressive' enough with their beliefs.
9. Karl
- 05/06/2009 12:55 pm CDT
Yeah, the way some on the left are spinning these photos and attempting to cite them as evidence of her supposed hypocrisy is contemptible, and silly.
Contemptible because of the politics of character assasination issues discussed above.
Silly because at least the one picture that's been made public doesn't show any more of her than you can see in a lot of beauty pageant swimsuit competitions, or on ads that run on TV. Not that I need to be staring at or contemplating said picture. But neither do I need to be contemplating girls in bikinis or certain TV ads. Some people on the left though, are acting as if she had posed for pornography, or made a sex tape.
At the same time, I think that whether she had conservative views or not, these pictures would have come out. Anyone attractive who becomes famous, should expect that any past nude or semi-nude or underwear or bikini modelling they have done will show up on the internet at some point. That's just become part of the internet age. Not saying it's right. Just saying that the fact that these pics ended up in the public eye was inevitable, even if the initial motive for their release and use of them have been political.
10. Bob Sacamento
- 05/06/2009 1:11 pm CDT
Just saying that the fact that these pics ended up in the public eye was inevitable
If she had won, it would have been inevitable, true. If she had lost because she flubbed a question on, I don't know, how to increase literacy in America, no one would have wated even a second digging for these things. It would have been a big yawn. All the brouhaha is due to her public, right-leaning stance on a controversial issue (in which, I have to say again, most of America agrees with her).
11. t.smith
- 05/06/2009 1:43 pm CDT
Okay, so are we all talking about the hollywood-entertainment left, or the political left? I think it would be wise to distinguish between the two. I know they are somewhat intertwined now, have been for awhile, but it seems the attacks on Miss California are coming from the entertainment sector. She also signed a contract that the Miss California pagent people think she may have violated. Also, www.bighollywood.breitbart.com is an interesting blog by those in the entertainment industry who are conservative, some are christians.
12. GinH
- 05/06/2009 10:12 pm CDT
Andrew - true enough, but it started somewhere and I have to wonder if a lot of people sat by and figured it wouldn't happen in their country. I'm not the best at history, though :) I really just meant that in reference to the government intimidation and thought police. Most of my knowledge of Russia at that time comes from fiction though, I must confess ;) but Child 44 WAS a kicking novel.
13. Andrew
- 05/07/2009 11:54 am CDT
No harm done. I get a little punchy when comparisons to the Soviets or Nazis get thrown out (and yes, I'm aware of the "Bush = Hitler" crowd. I don't like them, either).
It did start somewhere, and I know that we aren't immune. For both our sakes, I hope you are wrong. :-)
14. Enkurio
- 05/07/2009 1:23 pm CDT
It is kind of sad, but the only civilized America left is corporate America and/or the workplace, where leftists and right wing “fundies” are required to be vanilla and respect one another. You stir the pot and can’t get along at the workplace you don’t have a job anymore.
Leave a Comment:
yea.. that was dirty tactics to dig up those pictures... but bottom line? She posed for those pictures and as a Christian that probably wasn't a good idea. What "they" are trying to do, of course, is establish a pattern of hypocrisy in her life. Instead... this young woman can turn it around by saying, "Ya know? You're right. I should not have posed so suggestively. It compromises who I am and what I believe in. I am grateful for the mercy, grace and forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. Just one more example of why I need a Savior."
Instead of taking personal offense,instead of joining the mud slinging, I hope she confesses that it was wrong and shares the Gospel.
God is sovereign. God placed her in this place for a reason. She is in the spotlight for standing up for what she believes is right. May God give her even more boldness to now humbly share the Gospel!
In response to is it okay for them to destroy "us" without mercy?
Perhaps this scripture will help you:
1 Peter 2:23
When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
If we as christians were treated fairly by God we'd all be hell bound! It wasn't fair for Jesus to take on my sins and bear the full wrath of God that I will NEVER have to bear!!! It would have been "fair" to send me to hell!
No, Miss California is not being treating mercifully and she is not even being treated fairly... but she is in good company, right?