“It is better to stay silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it.” I don’t know who said that, but it sounds right. It reminds me of when I was teaching a Sunday School class. The topic of AIDS came up, and one guy started spouting off his theories about AIDS, most of which was nonsense. Fortunately, I was able to change the subject and move on. After the class, I took him aside because I thought there was something he needed to know. In the same classroom was the Dr. who literally discovered that AIDs could be transmitted through the blood. He had been the head of research at one of the top Biochemical firms in the world and was Director of an AIDs foundation. He was considered one of the most knowledgeable experts on AIDs in the world. Also in the classroom was a Dr. who was board certified in four specialties. He was also a biochemist who had discovered and patented the international test to determine if someone had AIDs.
I explained to this guy that these men had remained silent because they didn’t want to embarrass him. I knew both men very well and as a result I also knew that everything this guy said was wrong. But, of course, that did not slow him down on his mission to inform humanity. He at least had the good sense to be embarrassed. I told him I would speak to my friends about this and that they would understand. They both were very gracious when I talked to them. I thanked them for their graciousness. Then they both said something similar to me. Sometimes the most difficult challenge is to separate facts from fiction when talking about something like AIDs. We have made it our life’s ambition to determine the truth because the truth saves lives.
I felt the same way after reading the Time’s story. I have to admit, I did not spend a lot of time (pun intended) reading this. Time Magazine has shredded its’ credibility long ago. But what soon became obvious is that TIME felt that the people who conspired to influence the outcome of the 2020 election really believed they were saving the world for Democracy. It is remarkable that people would believe they were saving democracy by preventing it. They were interested only in preserving their own power and failed to understand that what they were doing was in direct opposition to Democracy. They felt the American people were best served by a conspiracy to deceive.
They felt Donald Trump deserved to be removed because he opposed them. In doing so, they made the best possible case for his Presidency. Donald Trump admittedly came with a lot of baggage, but as he himself once said, you needed someone who understands the swamp to know how to drain it. I believe historians will use the Time Story, not to trash Trump but rather to elevate him.
Sometimes being wrong is mostly humorous. But other times, it is tragic. This is never truer than when talking about contagious diseases. There is always someone, usually in a position of high authority, who makes decision action based on false assumptions. We recently watched the Victoria series on Masterpiece Theatre. There was a serious cholera outbreak in London. The Doctors in the establishment felt this was caused by miasma. They didn’t know exactly what that was, but they were sure they were right. So, they did all the wrong things. One Doctor, not well-known, figured out the real cause, which was contaminated water. At that time London had a horrible sewer system. This Doctor figured out that everyone who got cholera had been getting water from the same pump. Once they disconnected the pump, the epidemic went away. Today we know that cholera is spread by a specific bacterium that is usually spread through contaminated water. Thanks to our modern sewage and water treatment the United States has not had a cholera case since 1911. It is, however, still present in underdeveloped countries.
The Time magazine article is actually quite valuable. It accidentally exposed the real source of many problems. A lot of people who believe themselves to be uniquely qualified to make decisions for everyone else are instead absorbed by delusions they created themselves. What they consider to be disinformation is often a collection of inconvenient facts. Now, after admitting that they colluded to defeat Trump, they are pretending that there is no evidence this election was fraudulent.
The Apostle Paul warned about this in Romans 1:18-28. (International Version):
For God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and wickedness of those who in their wickedness suppress the truth. 19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God himself has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God’sp invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been understood and observed by what he made, so that peopleq are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. Instead, their thoughts turned to worthless things,r and their senseless hearts were darkened. 22Though claiming to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images that looked like mortal human beings, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.
24For this reason, God delivered them to sexual impurity as they followed the lustss of their hearts and dishonored their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged God’s truth for a lie and worshipped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26For this reason, God delivered them to degrading passions as their females exchanged their natural sexual function for one that is unnatural. 27In the same way, their males also abandoned their natural sexual function toward females and burned with lust toward one another. Males committed indecent acts with males, and received within themselves the appropriate penalty for their perversion.t
28Furthermore, because they did not think it worthwhile to keep knowing God fully, God delivered them to degraded minds to perform acts that should not be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, quarreling, deceit, and viciousness. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, haughty, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to their parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. 32Although they know God’s just requirement—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do these things but even applaud others who practice them.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Never truer than now. Time magazine in an attempt to justify the unjustifiable merely managed to document it. This is not exactly politically correct, but sometimes being actually correct is more important.
Some will assume that by quoting the Bible I am being homophobic. That would be wrong. I once had a man working for me who was dying of AIDS. He came into my office and asked me if I was a Christian? I was immediately suspicious. He then said: “Does God hate me so much because I am a homosexual that he had to kill me?” I was shocked to my core and desperately searched for a response. So I said this: “You obviously know what the Bible says about this, and I can hardly pretend to be capable of re-writing scripture. But I can say this, if homosexuality is a sin, I also know that the least of my sins is no more acceptable in the eyes of almighty God than the worst of yours. I like you; I respect you, I value you and I certainly am not about to judge you. I just pray for your recovery.” He did make a miraculous recovery. I doubt that it had much to do with me but remain grateful all the same.”
All of us need to seek the truth, in all things, but also avoid the self-righteousness and arrogance we can often see in others much easier than we can see it in ourselves.
TDM