Seek Truth

We are challenged in 1st Corinthians 13 to walk in the love of God, and Paul lists characteristics of
that love:
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8a Love never fails.

We are servants of the Most High, and we are called and empowered to exemplify His love.  That means we are to walk away from rancor and judgmentalism, intent on seeking the truth, and not too overly anxious to jump to conclusions.  Sometimes we are prone to take a story and run with it, a story that could do damage to a person's reputation and misrepresent his or her character; either publicly or in our own minds, which can adversely affect a relationship.  We have to be committed to living out the truth.

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Christians should be characterized by our love for truth, and we are called to be truth-seekers.  John
writes in the book of 2nd John:
1 The Elder, To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth,
2 because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever:
3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
4 I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father.

The process of confirming now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court revealed some aspects of the collective nature of many Americans that should concern us all, and can provide Christians with some principles that we can consider.

Even though, for some reason, there are those that can't quite figure out why a significant number of Christians voted for Donald Trump - one of the principal reasons involves the makeup of the Supreme Court.  The President, who campaigned on promoting originalist, even pro-life judges to the high court, has made good on that promise in two instances and by so doing has shifted the ideological balance of that judicial body.

So, with the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, pro-life, pro-family, and Christian groups lauded the choice as someone who would stand in accordance with religious liberty and would be far more likely to issue rulings consistent with the sanctity of life.  Those on the other side, from the very outset, were determined to make the debate about abortion, stating that Kavanaugh would violate so-called women's rights and overturn Roe v. Wade.  He, like any other choice on Trump's list of justices that he had issued, would be unacceptable to those who support abortion.  So, forget the hearings, forget the so-called "research," this guy was not going to get the vote of a certain bloc of Senators.

But, there was not enough of them.  Republicans held a 51-49 majority in the Senate, and even some Democrats, including those who supported Neil Gorsuch for the high court, might have been candidates to vote for this nominee.  So, after a rancorous series of hearings, in which the nominee performed well and was on his way to confirmation, there was not enough to derail the nomination.

Until, one Senator revealed there had been an allegation she had received two months prior.  The Washington Post reported on the allegation.  And, the reputation of Brett Kavanaugh and his judicial fitness were all of a sudden upended.  Republicans attempted to be accommodating to the accuser; other accusers stepped forward, but it was determined through the Judiciary Committee's process and an FBI investigation that there was no corroborating evidence to support her claims.

And, some of the same people who had jumped to conclusions about a Senate candidate last year who had been accused of sexual misconduct were actually standing behind Brett Kavanaugh, who, like Roy Moore, was put on trial in the court of public opinion and put in a position of having to defend his reputation and good name.  And, in a taste of irony, since the accusations helped to derail Moore's candidacy and lead to his defeat, it perhaps solidified this strategy against Kavanaugh.  And, if Moore had been elected, would the opposition to Kavanaugh have been as voracious, since Republicans would have held a two-vote cushion in the Senate?  Just sayin'.

And, that is where we are today - how to handle accusations.  How do we process them?  Should those claiming to be victimized automatically be believed?

We are, after all, in the age of #MeToo.  But, as Jenna Ellis of the James Dobson Family Institute wrote on the National Review website:

Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation process has been turned into a referendum on the #MeToo movement. Regardless of proof, evidence, or truth, the message from the progressive Left is clear: If you support Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation, you are affirming toxic masculinity and turning a cold shoulder to every legitimate victim of sexual assault. To the Left, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has already been canonized into an icon of modern feminism.

She added:

So, the court of public opinion quickly set up a false dilemma. To support Judge Kavanaugh is to delegitimize every female victim’s experience with sexual assault. The Left’s new motto, “I believe women,” is a categorical denial of the fact that people can be sincerely wrong. I could believe with 100 percent certainty something provably false. I could claim I’m the queen of England. I’m a woman, so I have a right to be believed! But what happens when belief does not match fact or reality? What happens when society punishes you based on my unproven belief?

Many who have condemned Kavanaugh show they can no longer reason or use analytical skills to differentiate between fact and reality versus emotion and opinion. All objectivity has been summarily dismissed. All interest in truth has been scorned in favor of political agenda. When our culture drives the idea that we can arbitrate our own reality (often referred to as “your truth”) and simply ignore facts when we don’t prefer them, it shouldn’t shock us that the progressive Left, represented by the Senate Democrats, don’t care about facts or truth either.

It should be easily understood that it is possible to abhor and condemn sexual assault categorically and also support Judge Kavanaugh, based on fact, reason, and standards of proof. Doing so requires the ability to understand why the presumption of innocence and objectivity is critically important to each individual case and why the lack of corroborative evidence is insufficient to prove a belief or allegation.

Senator Grassley and the Senate Judiciary Committee believed that Christine Blasey Ford should be heard.  But whether or not she should be believed, that's a different story.  The #MeToo movement has perhaps increased the sensitivity toward women who make claims of assault.  But, that still doesn't mean that all such claims are factual.  David French, also at National Review, highlighted a statistic that is floating around:

According to many activists, when a woman makes a claim of sexual assault, there is an empirically high probability that she’s telling the truth.

In other words, the very existence of the claim is evidence of the truth of the claim.

Here, for example, is Isaac Stanley-Becker writing in the Washington Post: “No crime is more underreported than rape, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, which estimates that the rate of false reporting is somewhere between 2 and 10 percent.”

This same statistic is cited again and again. And it’s being cited to bolster Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations against Brett Kavanaugh. Here it is at the BBC, in Vogue, and at Raw Story. This Vox report goes even farther, repeating an incredible and unverifiable claim that “994 out of 1,000 perpetrators walk free.”

French writes that, "in one of the key studies that the National Sexual Violence Resource Center relied on, researchers classified as false only 5.9 percent of cases — but noted that 44.9 percent of cases where classified as 'Case did not proceed.'”  As he points out, cases did not "meet necessary thresholds."  One reason could be that prosecutors did not believe they could prove an assault occurred beyond reasonable doubt.

Again, we should be sensitive to the perspective and claims of assault victims - they should have due process, but so should those who are accused.  The story of Potiphar's wife in the Bible should be a cautionary tale about jumping to conclusions - you probably know the story: a high-ranking official's wife attempted to seduce Joseph, he refused and ran.  She falsely accused him of attempting to assault her, and he was punished.  God worked that whole situation for His good, but Joseph was falsely accused and was imprisoned for it.

When someone comes to us with an accusation of wrongdoing by another person, we have to take a number of factors into consideration.  One is that we should never jump to conclusions.  And, so much gossip and slander occurs when a person is called into question and we immediately begin to spread that story.  We also develop a negative impression of that person, all because of something someone says.  What a powerful tool for division!

The Bible teaches a principle of multiple witnesses.  In the New Testament, we find 1st Timothy 5:19, which says, "Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses." The context of that verse has to do with those in authority. Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians 13: "This will be the third time I am coming to you. 'By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.'" The Old Testament also provides the principle: Deuteronomy 19 states, "One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established."

Finally, the culture of DC area private schools is something that is foreign to me.  There seemed to be a copious amount of teenage drinking, which can lead to impaired judgment and incorrect choices.  That's not to say that Brett Kavanaugh did anything inappropriate under the influence of alcohol.  But, the circumstances are set up that a young person consuming alcohol could - could - make life-altering choices.  Is it worth it?   Jim Garlow wrote on Facebook, "I believe Judge Kavanaugh’s report. But I disagree with him on one issue: he said, 'I like beer' way too many times." He goes on to say that "Judge Kavanaugh’s life would have been better without alcohol."  It's worth pondering - what sort of trap is the enemy laying in your life through choices that you are making?  Young people tempted to consume various substances are living in an atmosphere that could potentially harm them for the rest of their lives.

And, I am concerned about reports that those who opposed Judge Kavanaugh, having lost that fight, will fight even harder, and perhaps even dirtier.  We already have too much ugly, uncivil so-called "protest," some of it paid for, in the streets of America.  Forces are aligned that are intent on breaking and remaking this nation. We certainly need to pray.  Jason Yates of My Faith Votes, in a statement, encouraged prayer for the new Justice on the Supreme Court and said:

“Let us also pray for our nation, that the seething anger and discord of our politics of late would no longer drive us apart. The ‘you’re-either-for-us-or-against-us’ mentality MUST be replaced with a ‘we’re-all-in-this-together’ commonality. All Christians, indeed all Americans, must faithfully participate in the process of government — from the youngest voter to the oldest public servant — and advocate for our values while respecting the dignity and sincerity of belief of those whose values differ. Let us pray that we learn again the strength of civility.”

Ronnie Floyd of the National Day of Prayer Task Force stated:

“There’s now one — and only one — way forward for America: we must pray earnestly for unity and work intentionally toward reconciliation. It’s incumbent upon the church of Jesus Christ to be a force of unity, love and civility both within and without. In fact, Scripture teaches us that we ought to love and pray for not only those who agree with us but also those who oppose us."