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Government
The Veneer of Government
Confronting the veneer of "politifaux"
by
Gideon Strauss
Editor's Note: This seven-part series explores the "veneer" of each channel of culture. It is inspired by the latest Q book by Jason Locy and TIm Willard:
Veneer: Living Deeply in a Surface Society
.
If these ideas resonate with you, consider
picking up a copy
and diving deeper into this conversation.
"Seniors will have to find $12,500 for health care because Republicans voted to end Medicare."
"We’ve lost 26 million jobs … since (Obama’s) been president."
"One. That's the number of new drilling permits under the Obama administration since they came into office."
"A U.S. Government Accountability Office report says Planned Parenthood Federation of America cannot find some $1.3 billion given to it by the federal government from 2002 through 2008."
"Any child born prematurely, according to the president, in his own words, can be killed."
These were five recent statements scoring a
“Pants on fire!” rating at PolitiFacts.com
, the Pulitzer Prize-winning website of the
St. Petersburg Times
. The
Times
writers and editorial staff fact-check statements made by politicians and rate them on a Truth-O-Meter scale that goes from “True” to “Pants on fire!” If it scores “Pants on fire!” then “[the] statement is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim.”
Political statements that score a “Pants on fire!” rating are not, however, the worst abuses of political language. Far worse, I submit, is "truthiness."
Stephen Colbert introduced the word
“truthiness” during the premier episode of The Colbert Report, and it went on to
become the "Word of the Year"
according to both the American Dialect Society (in 2005) and Merriam-Webster (the dictionary people, in 2006).
“Truthiness,” according to Stephen Colbert, is “truth that comes from the gut, not books.” According to the American Dialect Society, it is “the quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true.”
American politics is filled with truthiness. It is only human (given our brokenness) that we prefer what we wish to be true, rather than what we know to be true. And so we indulge in television talk show pundits who affirm what we wish, we vote for the politicians who promise us we’ll get what we wish for, and we punish the pundits and the politicians who do the much harder work of trying to tell us what is true.
Pants-on-fire lying in politics is a bad thing. But truthiness is worse. It is worse because it is less obvious, more insiduous, and because we can more easily allow ourselves and our favorite pundits and politicians to get away with it. But truthiness is politics with a veneer.
Tim Willard and Jason Locy in their book
Veneer: Living Deeply in a Surface Society
describes our society as one in which all of us to some extent “mimic the world of celebrity, buy in to the promise of consumption, and place our trust in the hope of progress.” This is no less true in the sphere of politics than in the sphere of pop culture. And it has been so since at least the presidential race between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960 – during which the “people of America were watching politics change as on-camera presence became just as important as policy” in the televised debate between the presidential hopefuls.
For a politician without veneer, Willard and Locy point us to the Old Testament’s King David – by a long shot not a perfect man or a perfect politician:
David’s life intrigues and confuses us. We know his baggage: adulterer, conspirator, and murderer. And we know his fame: giant killer, poet, great strategist, and king. But we don’t understand how someone with such a colorful and even wild past — how a king could dance in front of the masses the way he did — can still be called a man after God’s own heart.
David’s secret is that he was a man and a king without veneer. A king would could dance before the Lord with all his might and yet could conspire in murder for the sake of adultery — ultimately a man who was open to God’s rebuke and repentantly sought to adjust his ways to God’s ways, a man who cared more about God’s heart than about anyone else’s opinion.
I wonder what an American politics without veneer would look like? A politics in which truth mattered more than truthiness to us as citizens, in which seeking the heart of God mattered more to our politicians than their standing in the polls, and in which those of us who profess to be Christians were noted for doing what is fair and just to our neighbors, for being compassionate and loyal in our love, and for not taking ourselves too seriously, but instead taking God very seriously, indeed?
-----
Where have you witnessed "truthiness" in politics? What other elements of government do you think constitute "veneer?"
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Comments
Russell
Good article and good thoughts, but those quotes in the beginning, coming from Colbert, he makes half his stuff up for satire and comedy, and can confuse (qideas) readers who are not well acquainted with him. This might create problems in future political conversations, especially considering the audience that subscribes to articles from qideas (they are always educated people and leaders), who do not know much of Colbert or his Colbert Report show. May I suggest that the beginning be re-edited and Colbert's life as a comedian be explained.
Russell L
Jeff Geissler
Great article and consistent with the truth. David is a wonderful example of a tranparent leader who, by the grace of God, was one of Israel's greatest kings. His life is an example of a fallable leader, of whom some of us can relate.
This article is also a challenge for the church and its leaders to see past the vaneer in politics. It is so easy to take the easy road and follow the subtle lies that so often pursuade the masses. A much better and narrow road to take is to examine the claims and statements of the media, our friends and family, and politicians before casting our vote and offering our endorsement.
Stephen Cowbear
Russell, if I am reading the blog post correctly, the quotes at the beginning are not from Colbert...they are from "Five recent statements scoring a “Pants on fire!” rating at PolitiFacts.com, the Pulitzer Prize-winning website of the St. Petersburg Times"
Jonathan Merritt
Russell,
The quotes at the beginning are not from Colbert. They are cited and can be accessed with the embedded link.
Jm
Monica
This is one of the reasons that I am a fan of Stephen Colbert. By mocking the pundits of truthiness, he shines a light on its absurdity and on its potential for danger.
richard z
I wonder how much truthiness I see in my church and my life!!
Justin Salters
As a political scientist there is so much truth in this. Narrow ideology, obsession with power, and the relentless quest for reelection have created this veneer. But, I sometimes sincerely wonder how much of it is forced onto politicians by the expectations we have as a culture? Politics mirrors the values we have as a society. Is it any wonder, then, that there is such a degree of veneer in government? Great post. I really need to get and read Veneer!
Comments are now closed
ALSO BY GIDEON STRAUSS
Principled Pluralism
Government
Enjoying America for What It Is
Gospel
ALSO IN GOVERNMENT
Politics and Prose
by Byron Borger
He Said, She Said on Health Care
by D. C. Innes and Lisa Sharon Harper
The Sanctity of Human Life
by David P. Gushee