Recovering Truth-Telling: January 6, Minneapolis, & Ideologies

We have once again been confronted with a familiar and troubling pattern in our political life. Events we watched unfold in real time are retold as something else entirely. What we are asked to believe no longer matches what we have seen.

Recently, we’ve seen this in the ongoing retelling of January 6. The administration’s brazen attempt at redefining events that took place five years ago has been something to behold. We all watched those events take place that Wednesday. We all watched and prayed in real time, in horror. We have not forgotten. And for those of us who, that following Sunday, denounced the politics surrounding those events and the idolatry that drove the Christian symbolism present at the Capitol building, we have not forgotten the responses we received for doing so (As you can imagine, this sermon I preached that Sunday garnered a whole host of reactions, some of which I am still recovering from. Yet, after all these years, the majority of that content proved to remain true). 

Additionally, we’ve seen the same brazen attempts to redefine events most recently with the administration's public explanations surrounding the recent ICE-related killing in Minneapolis. These examples say nothing about the inconsistent and opportunistic explanations for recent military action in Venezuela. 

In all these cases, the issues we’re facing are not simply disagreements over the interpretation of events, but intentional attempts to distort reality itself. Truth does not matter. Producing narratives that maintain power matters.

Political Ideology & Truth

These realities have brought me back to the non-negotiable book for anyone seeking to understand what lies beneath political ideologies, David Koyzis’s book Political Visions & Illusions (I am not kidding when I say this is a must-own, must-read book). In the book, Koyzis helpfully describes and then theologically assesses numerous poltical ideologies. He shows how ideology is the absolutizing of a partial good—taking something real and important and treating it as ultimate––nation, order, security, power, loyalty, etc. Once one moves into the realm of being ideologically driven, truth no longer serves one's interest. Instead, truth becomes an enemy, but because it becomes dangerous. 

It is also relevant that Koyzis juxtaposes ideological narratives and the biblical narrative. He notes that "The Bible is the record of God’s intervention in history to save his people… political ideologies embody a pseudo-redemptive narrative competing with the biblical story” (p. 11). Consequently, “Most of the ideologies we shall explore can be said to be rooted in a single human-centered religion, often known as humanism or, more commonly, secularism” (p. 17). In other words, every ideology can morph into idolatry, and idolatry, by its nature, is at odds with the One True God, the God of Truth. Thus, truth is dangerous to political ideology because truth cannot be controlled or manipulated.

This reminds me of the Apostle Paul’s words: “We cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth” (2 Cor. 13:8, emphasis mine). Truth is no servant, but a master. We must submit and bow to truth. Truth will never submit and bow to us. For Paul, he is clearly arguing for the truth of Christ––who is the embodiment of truth––in us. And as the Embodiment of Truth, in some sense, Christ is present in all that is true. Consequently, truth introduces moral clarity, prophetic witness, and rebuke to all distortions of truth. Truth raises questions, confronts injustice, and exposes corruption. And when power, especially political power, is built on a story that cannot survive the scrutiny of truth, the story, not truth, must be protected. That is where distortion and propaganda enter. This is no accident, but is a necessity for maintaining power and control, regardless of what political ideology is emphasized.

Conservative Nationalism

While this idolatry is a temptation for all ideologies, in many ways, the above reality is a natural consequence of the rise of nationalism we have seen in recent years in the U.S. As Koyzis explains, nationalism has a basic narrative arc (pp. 98-99): 

1. The nation has existed from time immemorial, established perhaps by the gods or by God and given a particular historical mission to work out. 

2. But at some point, the nation departs from its calling…struggling to maintain its distinctive character. 

3. At some point, salvation comes when a national leader or a group of leaders rise up and throw off the yoke of oppression. In such cases, salvation is either explicitly or implicitly identified with liberation from the alleged tyranny of a foreign nation.

When one maps this nationalism onto the brand of Christian conservatism that marks the current conservative movement, clarity about the times emerges. Assessing Christian conservatism, Koyzis notes, 

It is not surprising, therefore, that many ordinary Christians seek above all to conserve the traditions of their culture in the name of the Christian tradition that has shaped them. At its worst, this Christian conservatism can degenerate into an unthinking "God and country" form of nationalism, unable to distinguish the Great Tradition from traditions (p. 84). 

Cumulatively, this helps explain why January 6 must be endlessly retold as a peaceful patriotic protest. January 6 must be viewed as an attempt to throw off the shackles of oppression through noble patriotism in order to protect both this land established by God and  “the Great Tradition” through which the American people were established. And when you have President Trump telling a group of Christians that if they elect him, 

Christianity will have power. If I'm there, you're going to have plenty of power; you don't need anybody else. You're going to have somebody representing you very, very well. Remember that. 

With that promise, he becomes a leader able to save us and help us reclaim the distinctive character of this divinely established nation, even if he is a King Cyrus. 

Further, this narrative also serves to justify the kind of immigration policies we have seen this year and why we are in desperate need of such aggressive mass deportation efforts. The dehumanizing rhetoric, questionable legal foundations, and even violence are all necessary in order to reclaim the distinctive character of a nation that God divinely established, and that we must now protect. The fervor, intensity, and regular carelessness of that pursuit inevitability is going to leave a trail of violence, injustice, and death.  

But, of course, the narrative is not served by admitting that January 6th was a violent mob or that ICE agents are routinely using unjustifiable, excessive, and now deadly force. Even if we clearly watched the violence unfold on January 6th or clearly watched an ICE agent—whether the result of being malicious or unqualified—unnecessarily kill a protester, a retelling of the events for political gain is needed to maintain power. Reality must be distorted. Truth is disregarded in order to avoid the moral clarity, prophetic witness, and rebuke it brings. 

Ultimately, Koyzis’s point is that this is how idolatry functions, regardless of ideology. These distortions are not unique to the conservative nationalism of our day. However, with the conservative nationalism of our day, we see these attempts to define reality. And once that happens, lies are no longer merely tempting; they are required. Truth demands repentance, restraint, and accountability, and political ideologies, including conservative nationalism, rarely survive such demands.

The Necessity of Christian Truth-Telling

That said, why state what might seem obvious for many? For Christians, our current political environment places us in a difficult but unavoidable position. Truth-telling is not partisan posturing. Telling the truth is faithfulness, and learning to do so is paramount in Christian discipleship. Some might want to “avoid being political,” and there is certainly wisdom in resisting partisanism, but to refuse manipulated narratives is not to align with one party over another. Rather, it is to resist the slow erosion of moral clarity. Silence, especially when lies from political powers become habitual, is not neutrality. It is an accommodation. And that accommodation deforms our discipleship as Christians and undermines our public witness. 

Ultimately, power lies when it cannot handle the truth. And the church, if it is to remain faithful, must learn again how to say so—carefully, humbly, and without fear.