Presidential Tweets through History

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One of the great dangers of the Trump era is that statements, actions, and attitudes that previously would have seemed outrageous or offensive are now beginning to be accepted as the new normal. Like with tragedies and violence, we become desensitized and numb the more we come into contact with this kind of rhetoric.

So, to help us "snap back" to reality and see how outrageous many of the White House comments are, let's imagine what past Presidents would have sounded like if they took on the current tone:

George Washington: "If fake news--Poor Richard's Almanac, Connecticut Courant, New Hampshire Gazette, and others--won't shut up, we'll need to shut their printing presses for them. The American people are being misled and should just get news directly from me, the source." [compare to this real quote]

Thomas Jefferson: "Buying land west of the Mississippi River would be a sad waste of money." (2 weeks later) "I'm buying 828,000 square miles west of the Mississippi." (1 week later) "Fake news media says it was my idea to pay France for that land. LIES! It was the Federalists in Congress. They are colluding with France, not me."

Abraham Lincoln: "The Abe is working hard on this "situation" (NOT so called "crisis"). A few states tell me they are unhappy, but don't worry, Abe is making them some sweet deals. It's maybe not as difficult as people have thought, James Buchanan just totally "choked" and the South is just jealous I won. But, not too difficult. However, Robert E Loser has been TOTALLY UNFAIR!! I demand an apology!"

FDR: "Dec. 7, 1941, a day that was really, really bad. Radical Japanese bombed us. They are spies and also taking our jobs in California. We need to round them up in a big camp. It will be a beautiful camp, the best materials. No one will get out. We need to round them up and keep them there. They're BAD ninjas. #KeepAmericaSafeAgain"

Richard Nixon: "When the President does it, that means it's not illegal." (oh wait, Nixon actually said that)
"I have never heard or seen such outrageous, vicious, distorted reporting in my 27 years of public life. I'm not blaming anyone for that, and don't get the impression that you've aroused my anger [he did say that]...JK, my low ratings are all your fault. You're all evil scum and I'm coming for you!"

Bill Clinton: "I did not have relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinski. I mean, seriously, who would want her? She needs a nose job and is incredibly flat. If she were actually beautiful I may have started kissing her, but no I did not have relations with that ugly girl."

George W. Bush: "Psycho, no-brain Katie Couric keeps lying about the Iraq War. #FakeNewsCBS (or FBS) has failing ratings (no longer watch). Crazy Katie begged to come to my ranch last year and now she lies. The war is going amazing. It's going to be a great war, the best war."

Barack Obama:  (6 months into Presidency) "In case you forgot, I am the FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT. No one else has done this before, until me that is. I won, got more votes than anyone else. Herman Cain and Al Sharpton were losers. Black President = me."

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Learning from Nietzsche

Nietzsche! Surely nothing good for a Christian can come from Nietzsche! After all, this is the man who boldly proclaimed that "God is dead." How can we learn anything from his nihilism?Whenever many people (especially Christians) hear Nietzsche's name, that is a typical response. The name itself carries connotations of evil and rebellion against the way things are. Yet, perhaps there is still something to be gleaned from what this German philosopher had to say.

Recently, I read Nietzsche's essay, On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense. Indeed, the essay begins on quite a negative tone as Nietzsche laments "how miserable...and transient, how aimless and arbitrary the human intellect looks" given the fact that humanity must one day perish. After this, he goes on to discuss why "truth" is nothing more than a "social arrangement" perpetuated by the desire for power. In essence, what we call "truth" is only true because society defines that as "true."

Nietzsche's main reasoning is taken from the nature of language. Language, being a human invention, is arbitrary by nature. There is no direct correlation between words and the objects they represent. Thus, although I call my the thing I read a "book," there is absolutely no reason why I could not call it a "dog." The only reason I call it a "book" is because that is what society has decided is true. Nietzsche takes this idea further to argue that ALL of reality must be interpreted and described by words. Thus, because language has no direct tie to reality's essence, any description of truth is simply our version of reality. In the end, reality's essence can never be understood. Even if a transcendent truth exists, we can never grasp that truth.

So how does a Christian respond to this? Because, the fact is, I would agree with his observations on the nature of language. Must I accept that we can never understand or express a transcendent truth?

While I do not agree with Nietzsche's ultimate conclusions, I think that there is something important for us to glean from his work. Namely, we need an attitude of humility. Nietzsche has a good point when he argues that everyone filters reality through the lens of their own experiences and preconceptions. So, in one sense, none of us have a perfect objective view of the world. None of us have the same view of reality as the person next to us. We each have our own perspective that we work through.

I cannot help but think of Paul's words that "now we see in a mirror dimly...now I know in part" (1 Cor. 13:12). We must each recognize that, no matter how knowledgeable we are, we can never fully understand the reality before us. There will always be aspects that surpass our understanding. Therefore, this requires humility in all our interactions. If we are not all-knowing, then we must always be open to the possibility that we are wrong.

Nietzsche also railed against this assumption that our versions of truth were correct. While I disagree with his notion that truth is purely a social construct, I do agree with his frustration over people assuming they are correct. If a transcendent truth does exist, and if we can only ever see in part, then it is all the more important to make sure that we never sacrifice that truth for something that we have constructed for ourselves.

"Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse...but [they] exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures." (Rom. 1)

What have we assumed is true that is only our own creation? Do we ever think that we could be wrong? May God help us maintain humility so that we can see more fully.