Journalism, Demonstrations, and Discourse

Politicians and Journalists

The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. (Ecclesiastes 9:17-18, NASB)

Would Solomon more likely characterize journalists as "the wise" or "fools"? The President clearly thinks the latter, with considerable justification. He manipulates the media effortlessly.  For example, the day after his inauguration, he focused them on the petty matter of crowd size, and for two days the media would talk of nothing else. A lot was happening in the world, but anyone who could stomach turning on the news was subjected to an endless barrage of "experts" endlessly blithering about the obvious. Apparently the pundits couldn't get past it. I think the best description of that round is TKO by the President.

The President issued executive orders on immigration, just as he promised during the campaign. His supporters expected nothing less. Flash mobs at the airports are not expected to say anything wise, and venting emotions is unlikely to have any effect other than letting the flash mobbers feel good about themselves. They showed up. They held signs. They chanted. (Endorphin addiction in action.) No one of the mobs spoke to the issue raised by the President and his supporters. How can we tell, in a flood of immigrants claiming refugee status, which ones are ISIS plants seeking to enter, lie low, and eventually carry out acts of terror in the (unjustified) claim the of holy war.

The techniques for establishing credible fake credentials have been standard fare for centuries in the espionage community. The response to the events of September 11, 2001 was a very mechanical system designed to check the identity of airline passengers against watchlists, and prevent the introduction of dangerous items into the airplane. Neither that system nor any proposed system of vetting travelers and immigrants can know the heart of the subject. The best they can do is evaluate the actions and associates of a person. Similar personnel screening procedures for national security clearances still allow the occasional Eddie Snowden to sneak in. One sinner indeed destroys much good.

The real challenge is to develop a more effective means of countering the propaganda and recruitment by Islamic extremists of potentially sympathetic young men. Of the most notorious recent massacres - Orlando, Sacramento, Fort Hood - none of the shooters had a green card or a visa; all were born in this country to immigrant parents. If there is a strategy or plan on this front, it has not been publicly aired.

What of the plight of refugees? Isn't there the slightest bit of irony in worldwide uproar about the policies of the U.S.? "You've got to take them!" seems to be a demand or command from the politically correct around the world. This isn't speaking truth to power, but impudent and childish rebellion against authority, worthy of an adolescent. The refugees themselves offer pleas, but lack standing to plead their case.

In matters of faith, we often come to God with petitions for His intervention in our circumstances.  We also lack standing, apart from the invitation of Christ, to make our pleas to God. The essence of prayer is not some formula and certainly does not consist of making demands. Often cited is the framework that includes adoration (worship), confession, thanksgiving, and supplication (petition). At the core of petition seems to be a linkage of our circumstances to the glory of God. This linkage is unique in every circumstance because God is infinite variable and delights to reveal Himself and the glory of His holiness in the perfect response. Our challenge in prayer is to find that linkage through communion with the Holy Spirit, and then petition God for it.

This is the language of faith, utterly alien to political discourse. (I'm not really suggesting that demonstrators are engaging in political discourse, only feel-good venting.) But for refugees, there is a need for a process of dialogue, of petitioning the Powers That Be, of linking their circumstances to the values and principles of the U.S. We will never know their hearts in this life, but perhaps we can establish a common understanding.

Paying Others' Bills

Who pays the bills for the Peter Pans - those who refuse to grow up and accept responsibility? Is it fair to make everyone to pay for those choosing destructive behaviors?  Do those paying the bills have any standing to influence or control unhealthy choices? Is there a moral hazard that subsidizing consequences enables self-destruction, or that bill-payers will be tempted to play God? How can we address the root causes of self-destructive addictions? These are broad questions, so let us start with the payment aspect of this issue: Bills are paid by insurance companies (costs borne by the general class of insured), the government (taxpayers), and uncompensated victims and service providers. Make no mistake - institutions who pay collect funds from others or shift the burdens to others.

A CDC study estimated that excessive alcohol use cost the U.S. approximately $249 billion in 2010, of which 72% was lost productivity, 11% was healthcare, 10% was criminal justice, and 5% was motor vehicle crash-related costs. The study estimated that this averages to $2.05 per drink. A 2011 DOJ study of the economic impact of illicit drug use on American society, based on 2007 data, estimated criminal justice costs at $61 billion, health care costs $11 billion, and productivity costs of $120 billion, totaling $193 billion. Since these data are ten years old, it seems likely they have increased. A recent CDC fact sheet estimates that nearly $170 billion is spent annually on healthcare costs attributable to smoking, plus $156 billion in lost productivity due to premature death and exposure to secondhand smoke, totaling $326 billion. With an estimated 271 billion cigarettes sold in the U.S. annually, this averages to $1.20 per cigarette. A study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America's Health estimated that the annual healthcare cost of obesity is somewhere in the range of $147 to $210 billion. The causes of obesity include diet, exercise, genetics, and disease. The annual total of all these is just under $1 trillion.

Given these costs to society, what is an appropriate response? The primary option to the status quo would be to encourage, incentivize, or force people to change their behavior. Public service announcements abound.  Some vices are taxed although perhaps not to the level of their social costs, and seldom are those tax revenues used to offset the costs of the use of the products. Higher taxes could potentially further discourage costly behaviors, but not illegal activities, such as use of non-prescription narcotics. The "war" on drugs over several decades evidences that laws and law enforcement can only go so far. In some states, death from opioids exceed deaths from motor vehicle accidents. Because of the multiplicity of causes, no simple tax levy could be tied to obesity, although a tax on dietary sugar and fat, or a subsidy of healthy foods such as fresh produce might be partly relevant.  If society as a whole pays these bills, does it subsidize and enable self-destructive behavior? Should freedom allow individuals to do things that are self-destructive regardless of whether they pay the whole freight or are not held accountable for the consequences?

Turning to the spiritual realm, how does God encourage, influence, or coerce our behavior? In the Bible, God pleads with us to walk with Him and do the things He asks. These are for our own best interests. He often rescues us from our follies. But there comes a point, if we do not listen, at which He allows us to reap what we have sown. God does not enable sin, but tries to deliver us from it. Jesus' parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15) epitomizes that He also allows us the freedom to choose poorly.

When the Israelites failed to obey God after leaving Egypt, He sentenced them to wander in the wilderness for forty years.  The entire generation of adults (except Joshua and Caleb) lacked the faith to respond to what God had already done in delivering them out of Egypt. (Numbers 14:29-35) He trained the next generation by feeding them manna daily for forty years, and they entered and conquered the promised land. (Joshua 24) After the reign of Solomon, the Israelites rebelled against God. The prophets warned and pleaded with them. Ultimately, the Israelites were taken into captivity and learned through hard labor to take God's words seriously, just as the generation that left Egypt did. (2 Chronicles 36:13-21) As Matthew Henry observed in his commentary on Nehemiah 10:31, "Those are stubborn children indeed that will not amend the fault for which they have been particularly corrected."

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) Jesus invited His listeners to enjoy blessings that appear esoteric because they are spiritual. He gave approximately twenty commands, most of which are impossible for us to perform on our own. Jesus described the blessedness of those who are in God's kingdom, which is only possible by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The book of Acts shows the early church struggling to establish the kingdom of God against tremendous opposition. Sadly, some chose to live in the flesh. Ananias and Sapphira experienced what seems like an Old Testament judgment for their conspiracy to lie to the Holy Spirit. (Acts 5:1-10) Where was God's grace in their situation? In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul dealt with a situation of brazen immorality: Sin has consequences. Those outside the church God deals with, but sin tolerated within the church was a cancer that must be surgically removed. It was for the sake of the church, but he also directed them to deliver this brother to Satan so that his spirit could be saved.

This saga of truth or consequences is incomplete without the capstone of Paul's theological explanation. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:1-2) Empowerment by God to do things that are good and true and holy and loving has no worldly counterpart. The world may encourage, exhort, educate, train, punish, coerce, or incentivize people to do the right thing, but only God through the Holy Spirit comes Himself inside the Christian believer to give the power to do so. Since this is voluntary, Paul pleads with his readers to allow God to do this. (Romans 12:1) We have been given a glimpse of heaven, and are invited to enter. Who paid the bill? Jesus. Jesus is not going to fix our healthcare system, or miraculously deliver from their folly those who reject Him. We can spend enormous amounts trying to alleviate consequences and reform others, but until we begin building the kingdom of God, we will not have the wherewithal to pay the bills. This does not mean political rule by believers. The kingdom of God is built in our own lives when we cooperate with God to allow the Holy Spirit to make us like Him.