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A month ago, I preached a sermon on truth — Wisdom Cries Out in the Streets. It was occasioned by the lies told by J.D. Vance about the Haitian immigrant community in Springfield, Ohio.
Since then, Americans have been besieged by Donald Trump’s political campaign built on a foundation of lying. Springfield was terrible. But the public spectacle of turning the victims of Hurricane Helene into a vehicle for the most brutal, life-endangering lies has few parallels in American history. Lying about hurricane relief, inventing AI “victims,” and deceiving survivors of this disaster in ways that leave them feeling even more hopeless and abandoned is, frankly, evil.
Sure, the most cynical among us know that politicians stretch the truth, shade stories to make themselves look good, fudge details about policies, and shift narratives to their own advantage. For better or worse, this is part of the political process in democratic countries.
But there are exaggerations, talking points, bad memories, and narrative embellishments — and then there are malicious, outright lies and public deceptions. As one scholar of the American presidency has written, “Often presidents do not tell the ‘absolute truth,’ but not all presidential lies are equivalent.”
Several days ago, the bishops of the ELCA, the mainline Lutheran church in the United States, issued a short letter on the nature of truth and the moral obligation of Christians to speak truth.
It is worthy of your reflection — and important to share. I’m deeply grateful to the Lutheran bishops for this forceful exhortation: “We refuse to accept the ongoing normalization of lies and deceit.”
I’m glad to receive those words. And equally glad to join them in speaking out against lying. I hope you will, too. Our neighbors need truth right now. It may be for many people the difference between life and death.
From the bishops of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America):
In a perfect garden, created by God for the sake of humanity, evil entered in the form of deception and lies. Christians refer to this story, found in the biblical book of Genesis, as the fall of humanity. This foray into human sin began when Adam and Eve, the first humans created in the image of God, were deceived.
Humans have contended with the powers of deception ever since.
Yet we are a people who know and proclaim the power of God at work in the world. We proclaim the power of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, the one who said, "I am the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6).
We know that the power of truth is greater than the power of deceit.
We, the members of the Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, speak with one voice to condemn the hateful, deceptive, violent speech that has too readily found a place in our national discourse. We lament the ways this language has led to hate-fueled action.
We refuse to accept the ongoing normalization of lies and deceit.
We recommit ourselves to speaking the truth and pointing to the one who is truth. We find courage in our collegiality and implore the members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, as well as our partners and friends, to join us as we:
Pledge to be vigilant guardians of truth, refusing to perpetuate lies or half-truths that further corrode the fabric of our society.
Commit to rigorous fact-checking, honoring God's command to "test everything; hold fast to what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
Reject the use of humor that normalizes falsehood, remembering that our speech should "always be gracious" (Colossians 4:6).
Boldly advocate for the marginalized and oppressed, emulating Christ's love for the least among us.
Courageously interrupt hate speech, standing firm in the knowledge that all are created in God's image.
Lean in with curiosity, engage with those who think differently and "put the best construction on our neighbor's action" (Luther's explanation of the Eighth Commandment).
Amplify voices of truth.
Emboldened by the Holy Spirit, may we resist deception and lift up the truth that all members of humanity are created in the image of God.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all as we respond to the Spirit's invitation into this intentional commitment against deception and for truth.
In Christ,
The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
YOU CAN STILL WATCH TRUE BELIEVER
Paid subscribers can still watch Kristen Irving’s deeply vulnerable and truthful documentary on the faith crisis of evangelicalism and politics. It is available to you until the morning of October 13.
If you are a paid subscriber, click HERE FOR TRUE BELIEVER — and you will be taken to a recording of our recent interview (afterward, she said to me, “that was a beautiful conversation…”) and access the film’s at a special ticket price (only $5 — that’s $10 less than the usual price!). All proceeds go to on-the-ground organizations fighting for women’s health initiatives.
If you are a free subscriber and would like to be part of The Cottage’s True Believer special viewing and exclusive interview, upgrade by clicking the button below.
Once you’ve upgraded to a paid subscription, come back to this note and click the link “HERE FOR TRUE BELIEVER.” Everything you need is there.
INSPIRATION
We, this people, on a small and lonely planet
Traveling through casual space
Past aloof stars, across the way of indifferent suns
To a destination where all signs tell us
It is possible and imperative that we learn
A brave and startling truth
And when we come to it
To the day of peacemaking
When we release our fingers
From fists of hostility
And allow the pure air to cool our palms
When we come to it
When the curtain falls on the minstrel show of hate
And faces sooted with scorn are scrubbed clean
When battlefields and coliseum
No longer rake our unique and particular sons and daughters
Up with the bruised and bloody grass
To lie in identical plots in foreign soil
When the rapacious storming of the churches
The screaming racket in the temples have ceased
When the pennants are waving gaily
When the banners of the world tremble
Stoutly in the good, clean breeze
When we come to it
When we let the rifles fall from our shoulders
And children dress their dolls in flags of truce
When land mines of death have been removed
And the aged can walk into evenings of peace
When religious ritual is not perfumed
By the incense of burning flesh
And childhood dreams are not kicked awake
By nightmares of abuse . . . .
We, this people, on this small and drifting planet
Whose hands can strike with such abandon
That in a twinkling, life is sapped from the living
Yet those same hands can touch with such healing, irresistible tenderness
That the haughty neck is happy to bow
And the proud back is glad to bend
Out of such chaos, of such contradiction
We learn that we are neither devils nor divines
When we come to it
We, this people, on this wayward, floating body
Created on this earth, of this earth
Have the power to fashion for this earth
A climate where every man and every woman
Can live freely without sanctimonious piety
Without crippling fear
When we come to it
We must confess that we are the possible
We are the miraculous, the true wonder of this world
That is when, and only when
We come to it.
— Maya Angelou, from “A Brave and Startling Truth”
There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that hurry to run to evil,
a lying witness who testifies falsely,
and one who sows discord in a family.
— Proverbs 6:16-19
You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.
— C.S. Lewis
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this article from The Atlantic. I made it a gift article - you should be able to read it. The piece begins thus, "The truth is, it’s getting harder to describe the extent to which a meaningful percentage of Americans have dissociated from reality."
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/10/hurricane-milton-conspiracies-misinformation/680221/
Comments are now closed to everyone except paid subscribers. If you read this thread - or read some of the material that I've had to remove, you certainly understand.
As a reminder, no lies or fake news are tolerated here. Also, if you outright insult anyone or imply personal insult to me or anyone else, well, sorry, you can't comment in this space.