Truth and Allegiance

As I was reading the Passion narrative in the Gospel of John this morning two small quotes seemed to speak to realities of our time. Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth” (18:38) and the chief priests answered Pilate, “We have no king but the emperor.” [Caesar KJV, RSV] (19:15)

“Fake news” is increasingly hurled around as a political weapon. Several forms of “fake news” combine to undermine the whole idea of objective truth. I believe this is far deeper and more destructive than moral relativism. Bandying around “fake news” in all of its forms is an indicator that truth is being replaced by power. Whomever wins the power struggle gets to define truth from reporting of current events to scientific evidence. Pilate epitomized this practice of “fake news.” He knew Jesus was innocent of the charges against him, but sentenced him to execution anyway because he had the power to do so. (19:10-11) I observe that “fake news” takes at least these forms.

·         Inventing “fake news” that is untrue but presented as true to malign or manipulate.

·         Selectively reporting and arranging “fake news” that uses accurate information to mislead either intentionally or filtered by political or other presuppositions.

·         Unintentional “fake news” that reports inaccurate or selected information with or without bias. When this is discovered in healthy process of the free press, responsible sources make public corrections and apologies as appropriate.

·         Subjective “fake news” that reports accurate information with responsible intentions, presented to support political or other presuppositions.

·         Dismissing as “fake news” unwelcome information because of minor flaws in presentation.

·         Dismissing as “fake news” any unwelcome information, even if correct, as an evasion of responsibility or accuracy.

In my opinion, these last two are at least as damaging to truth as the first two in my list.

Back in July 2018 I wrote of my observation of schism in the Church in the US around conflicting understandings of how we who follow Jesus relate to our nation’s government. http://nstolpepilgrim.blogspot.com/2018/07/under-siege-unity-of-spirit-in-bond-of.html “We have no king but the emperor” strikes me as reflective of those who argue that Christian faith requires loyalty to the government. Of course, this becomes ambiguous when the party in power switches from the one you like to the one you don’t like or vice versa. We are facing a second election in a row in which many who follow Jesus, including me, have deep reservations about both candidates. I have to say that for me this is a symptom of or insight into the real values of our society. I want to be clear that I have no expectation that the President or any other office holder in the US be my personal brand of Christian or profess faith in Jesus or even belief in God. (Article 6 of the US Constitution forbids any religious test for holding public office.)Without getting too detailed, I am looking to support candidates of integrity and competence with a long track record of trust and who will work for justice and peace, prosperity and compassion for the least among us.

Before Pilate asked Jesus if he was a king (18:37) , Jesus said, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting … My kingdom is not from here.” (18:36) So the question I am pondering for myself and suggesting for other who follow Jesus to consider is this. In the realities of our present time, how do I participate in public life clearly proclaiming that Jesus is Lord and not getting sucked into saying, “We have no king but the emperor”?