Meanderings, 2 November 2024

We opened up the door to the first day of November this week. In our village the door opened to wind and a surge of cooler air. OK, we can’t complain. Our Fall has been glorious in moderate to warm temperatures. So, here’s some Meanderings to the waning light and crisper air and coloring of the leaves!

Photo by Fineas Anton on Unsplash

J.D. Walt and meeting with God, a need for many of us this weekend:

There is so much going on in today’s text, yet there is really just one thing. Let’s rehearse the scene: Thunder. Lightning. Thick clouds descending. Loud trumpet blasting. Billowing smoke. Fiery furnace. Mountain shaking violently. People trembling.

So, did you catch the one thing? Because of so many things going on, it can be easy to miss the one thing actually happening. The one thing is not only the most important thing; it is really the only thing. It’s right there in verse 17.

Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God.

The one thing—meeting with God.

The giving of the Law on Mount Sinai can be described in many ways, and mostly, it is described as simply the Ten Commandments, but in its deepest and most important essence, it is something else: a meeting with God.

Years back, when we first started the New Room Conference, our team made a crucial decision. We decided our conference would not have a theme—that it would be about only one thing: meeting with God. Sure, we have speakers and music and snacks and breakouts just like other conferences, but the overarching, underlying, permeating point of everything we do would be meeting with God. We all agreed—we could pull off the most amazing conference ever, but if we did not meet with God, it would have been for naught. At the same time, we could miss a lot of cues, provide FEMA-level rations, cut the light show and smoke machine, and if we met with God, no one would care about the rest.

Church can be this way. I sometimes wonder why we require so much amenity to meet with God. We have massive sound systems to simulate the thunder, all kinds of flashy lighting to simulate the lightning, and, yes, we even have smoke machines to simulate the presence. I sometimes wonder if this masks the real absence of a true meeting with God. Don’t hear me wrong. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with loud music and lights and even smoke—until there is.

Consider the notion of having a quiet time or doing devotions. Do we conceive of these activities as a meeting with God, or have they become just things we do every day, faithful habits, or worse, boxes we check? I wonder if some dimension of repentance might include waking up from our predictable devotional patterns and getting back to the core essence of what they are really all about: meeting with God.

The word of the year: “brat”

More than a “brat summer” – it may even be a brat year.

Collins Dictionary has named “brat” its word of the year for 2024, defining it as someone “characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude.”

“More than a hugely successful album, ‘brat’ is a cultural phenomenon that has resonated with people globally, and ‘brat summer’ established itself as an aesthetic and a way of life,” the UK-based dictionary publisher said in a statement announcing this year’s choice.

The dictionary credited British singer Charli XCX with making “brat” one of the most talked-about words in 2024.

According to the singer, a brat is “that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things some times.”

“Who feels like herself but maybe also has a breakdown. But kind of, like, parties through it, is very honest, very blunt. A little bit volatile. Like, does dumb things. But it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat,” she said in a video explaining the word on TikTok.

In an interview with the BBC, Charli XCX outlined some items that make for a brat girl summer: “a pack of cigs, a Bic lighter, and a strappy white top with no bra.”

… along with:

Other words shortlisted this year also have social media to thank for their growth in popularity.

Among them were “delulu,” meaning to be “utterly mistaken or unrealistic in one’s ideas or expectations,” and “looksmaxxing”, a word commonly used in online male communities that refers to “attempting to maximize the attractiveness of one’s physical appearance.”

The growing trend of “rawdogging” during travel – undertaking a journey without any form of entertainment – was also recognized on the shortlist.

Kris has been an election official, and I found this article about election officials — their safety, their integrity, their responsibilities — an important reminder of what they go through:

The US election system relies on hundreds of thousands of volunteers like Johnson. But the role she has long seen as an opportunity to serve is now the target of a maelstrom of suspicion from a vocal segment of Americans, including some of her fellow conservatives and fellow Christians.

Partisan attacks on election administration methods, election results, and election officials are not new, but they have become a defining feature of today’s political landscape, with the “stop the steal” rhetoric and claims of election fraud that emerged after Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in 2020. It seems harder than ever for election workers trying to keep the process fair and trustworthy.

In a recent poll of election officials, more than one-third said they experienced threats, harassment, or abuse due to their work. Half voiced safety concerns for their staff, and nearly all have been forced to improve their safety measures.

“It has become more normal, if you are a public servant, to endure threats of intimidation and harassment at pretty significant levels,” Elizabeth Neumann, former assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat prevention at the Department of Homeland Security, told CT.

Even formerly innocuous roles—city council, county clerk, election workers, or volunteers in civic service “as retirement jobs”—have “these horror stories of [getting] voicemails of somebody threatening to kill their grandchildren,” she added.

Christians called to serve in these roles have found some comfort in their convictions—but they’ve also felt the sting of neighbors and churchgoers demonizing their work.

Spotting misinformation (9 ways):

Here are 9 tips that help us sift through the noise. They may be useful for you, too.

1. Basic sniff test. If vaccines are causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, wouldn’t we have overwhelmed morgues? If election workers were unloading trash cans full of ballots they forged at an election center, would they dump them out in front of a security camera? More often than not, these allegations don’t pass a basic sniff test. Pause and think before you share.

2. Follow the money. Most people don’t just spread lies for fun. They are doing it for one of two reasons: 1) political motivation, or 2) making a profit. If someone has created a movie that “proves” election fraud happened, but you have to pay $19 to view it, red flags should be going up everywhere. If a podcast talks about the benefits of supplements but then sells those same supplements thereafter, you should consider whether those two things are linked.

3. Ask follow-up questions. If someone makes a bold claim online, ask them to explain it. They’ll often respond with statements like “Democrats are stealing the 2024 election. We all know it.” Or “hydroxychloroquine obviously stops Covid-19 infections.” Ask them how they know it. Once you do, you’ll have evidence to analyze.

4. Find a second source. There are a lot of legitimate-looking news websites that are actually just organizations masking as something else. In politics, they exist on the left and right. In health, they are usually trying to sell something. These websites are typically shared on social media to go viral and get clicks. If you can only find a claim made by one source, there is a good chance something is fishy. See if it’s being confirmed in a more reputable news outlet.

5. Do two minutes of targeted research. If we see a claim, plug it into a search engine like Google or DuckDuckGo. This is a simple way to stress-test claims: look for the counter-evidence and see if someone else has already provided a better explanation.

6. Read the comments and replies. If a claim is being shared, there is often a space for people to reply or comment. The replies and comments usually contain dissenting voices. (There’s always some crazy replies, too.) We always read the comments and replies for more information and gather other insights to help evaluate the claim. A recent study also showed that 97.5% of community notes on X were accurate for Covid-19 vaccines. We’ve found they can provide refreshing nuance in topics beyond vaccines, too; however, the community notes are often too late—the rumor has already spread.

7. Consult the experts. We know that’s corny to say, but it’s still important. Election experts are good sources. Most Americans have never worked as secretaries of state, poll workers, county recorders, auditors, investigators, or in other roles that give them unique insights into how elections are run. When you don’t have that experience, you can be convinced that regular, innocuous election activity is actually suspicious or dangerous. This is more challenging in the public health space, as some of the most prominent disinformation dozen have MDs behind their name. It’s okay to consult an expert’s opinion and, ideally, many opinions.

8. If a claim instantly sparks rage, take a step back. Strong emotions can temporarily blind us from thinking critically, causing us to accept something not because it makes sense but because it makes us mad. Social media platforms are optimized for engagement, meaning that sensational or emotionally charged content gets the most attention.

9. Maintain skepticism. More than anything else, rules 1–8 only work if you maintain a modicum of skepticism while navigating the information ecosystem we are operating in. That’s especially important if the information you are encountering reaffirms your worldview. More than anything else, do your best not to be gullible; don’t believe in dramatic or jaw-dropping claims without trying to follow these steps.

Richard Rohr on loving our enemies as gospel living:

As Christians, we proclaim that this scripture has authority over our lives, but I am hearing from more and more pastors from all denominations that they are afraid to preach the gospel in this country because they know half the church will walk out. You know what I’m talking about. We are in a state of such deceit, dishonesty, and lack of love for anybody but ourselves that is almost impossible to preach the gospel. The ancient Israelites were told “to love your neighbor,” but Jesus takes it to the nth degree. He says, “No—love your enemy.” 

Is there anything happening in America today that would make you think we believe we should “love our enemies”? If Christians do not decide to finally be like Jesus, then let’s just give up on this whole Christian thing. It doesn’t mean anything! If it’s just going to church on Sunday, then we have to stop pretending we’re following Jesus, because we’re just like everybody else—we are into power and money and deceit and war. If we do not preach the gospel, if we do not begin to live the gospel now, then let’s stop pretending that we care about Jesus or about following Jesus. 

We are in a very scary position in the United States, and the whole world sees it. We are called to engage in a great mobilization, recognition, conversion, and transformation, because now the issues are too big, too real, and too right in front of us every day.  

We cannot be silent any longer. Do not expect me to be silent, and I won’t expect you to be silent, either. It’s going to take courage. It’s going take each of us making little decisions in our little worlds to love, not just our neighbors, but even to pray for our enemies, to pray for our president, to pray for our country. If we can’t do these little things, what does it all mean?  

The strongman and Timothy Snyder, who is a voice in need of listening to. Remember ideology doesn’t need facts, and it doesn’t care about people.

Quite a few Americans like the idea of strongman rule.  Why not a dictator who will get things done? 

I lived in eastern Europe when memories of communism were fresh.  I have visited regions in Ukraine where Russia imposed its occupation regime.  I have spent decades reading testimonies of people who lived under Nazi or Stalinist rule.  I have seen death pits, some old, some freshly dug. And I have friends who have lived under authoritarian regimes, including political prisoners and survivors of torture. Some of the people I trusted most have been assassinated.

So I think that there is an answer to this question. 

Strongman rule is a fantasy.  Essential to it is the idea that a strongman will be your strongman.  He won't.  In a democracy, elected representatives listen to constituents.  We take this for granted, and imagine that a dictator would owe us something. But the vote you cast for him affirms your irrelevance.  The whole point is that the strongman owes us nothing.  We get abused and we get used to it. 

Another pleasant illusion is that the strongman will unite the nation.  But an aspiring dictator will always claim that some belong and others don't.  He will define one group after another as the enemy.  This might feel good, so long as you feel that you are on the right side of the line.  But now fear is the essence of life.  The politics of us-and-them, once begun, never ends. 

We dream that a strongman will let us focus on America.  But dictatorship opens our country to the worst the world has to offer.  An American strongman will measure himself by the wealth and power of other dictators.  He will befriend them and compete with them.  From them he will learn new ways to oppress and to exploit his own people.

At least, the fantasy goes, the strongman will get things done.  But dictatorial power today is not about achieving anything positive.  It is about preventing anyone else from achieving anything.  The strongman is really the weak man: his secret is that he makes everyone else weaker. 

Unaccountable to the law and to voters, the dictator has no reason to consider anything beyond his own personal interests.  In the twenty-first century, those are simple: dying in bed as a billionaire.  To enrich himself and to stay out of prison, the strongman dismantles the justice system and replaces civil servants with loyalists. 

The new bureaucrats will have no sense of accountability.  Basic government functions will break down. Citizens who want access will learn to pay bribes.  Bureaucrats in office thanks to patronage will be corrupt, and citizens will be desperate.  Quickly the corruption becomes normal, even unquestioned. 

As the fantasy of strongman rule fades into everyday dictatorship, people realize that they need things like water or schools or Social Security checks.  Insofar as such goods are available under a dictatorship, they come with a moral as well as a financial price.  When you go to a government office, you will be expected to declare your personal loyalty to the strongman.   

If you have a complaint about these practices, too bad.  Americans are litigious people, and many of us assume that we can go to the police or sue.  But when you vote a strong man in, you vote out the rule of law.  In court, only loyalism and wealth will matter.  Americans who do not fear the police will learn to do so.  Those who wear the uniform must either resign or become the enforcers of the whims of one man.