The Age of Sophistry

 According to Meriam-Webster's dictionary sophistry is "subtly deceptive reasoning or argumentation." In other words it when a person takes a truth but manipulates its claim to advance a falsehood. An example from our current history would be something like, "Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner, therefore he was an immoral man in all areas of life." The truth stated is that Jefferson was a slave owner, however the conclusion that "therefore he was an immoral man..." is deceptive reasoning based on that fact. Jefferson may have been immoral in other areas of his life, but one cannot make the claim that he was immoral all the way through on the basis of his view on slavery alone. Why not? Because the issue of slavery in his day was not viewed as the way it is in our day, first of all. But also because, it stands to reason that just because a person may have moral failures in one area of life does not mean that they have not contributed greatly to society or the common good in other areas. As a matter of fact, as I have written in other spaces, even the Bible is filled with stories of men who sinned greatly at times, but were still used of God in mighty ways for the good of His people and for the progressing of redemptive history. Yet the use of logical fallacies and the claims of moral superiority based on the manipulation of facts has only increased in our present age. 

We live in an age of relativism. Whether it is Truth that is described as relative or morality, the intelligentsia of our day want to keep the ability of "knowing" loose and vague. This is most obviously recognized with the idea of gender fluidity, fluctuating sexual preferences, and historical revisionism that is taking place all of the country. One story sums this up pretty well when you simply look at the actress Ellen Page who recently came out as transgender. Before she has come to that realization she had come out a few years earlier as lesbian, and now she was coming out as transgendered. Since coming out as a man, she has now divorced her "wife", but without an explanation so far as to what this might mean for her sexual identity. This story also relates to historical revisionism because as soon as Ellen decided she was now Elliott, all mentioning of her past changed to support that claim. No longer had it been Ellen Page, star of the movie Juno, now it was Elliott Page. However, logically and historically it was not Elliott Page who has stared in Juno, it had in fact been Ellen. Confused? Of course! 

Yet, when truth or events do not align with those who control the narrative, suddenly things become a little more concrete. You must wear a mask if you want to stop the spread of Covid-19. You must bow the knee to the LGBTQ agenda. You must recognize the privileges that your color, gender, or economic background have afforded you. And you certainly cannot think for one second that our past election may not have been completely up to snuff or you certainly deserve to be cancelled from polite society! It is all sophistry! Illogical thinking leads to illogical behavior leads to illogical realities. The only thing one can be sure of today is that if you dare speak out on the inconsistencies and the irrational nature of the messaging today you will be pushed to the margins of public square. 

Those that practice such sophistication do so for the purpose of painting certain groups with a broad brush so that their voices no longer carry weight among the public discourse. Take for instance the awful riots at the Capitol on January 6th, although it was only a handful of people relative to the size of those gathered storming the Capitol building, it was later described as essentially everyone there, all Trump supporters, or even all Republicans that had engaged in the terrible activities of that day. Now, compare that to the events of the previous summer when protests turned to mob violence and riots nation wide. How where those events covered by the same media (CNN, MSNBC, Washington Post, NY Times, and other leftward leaning outlets)? "Mostly peaceful protests..." Sophistry in action. 

From the pulling down of statues to the removal of names on buildings, all of the actions of the media (those mentioned above), mobs, and leftist have attempted to take one tiny shred of truth and turn it into something completely false. Take for instance the story that kicked off all of the summer riots, the death of George Floyd. No one defended the actions of the police officer that knelt on Floyd's neck till he died. No one pretending that his actions were acceptable, and yet even though everyone was agreed of what the truth presented lies, false information, and incomplete accounts of events flooded the airwaves and the internet. This could have been a moment of unity, and instead it was used as a weapon for divisiveness. This is what those that peddle in such behavior seek to do today. They want to appear wise, but in reality they are foolish. They may not see how wrongheaded and misguided they are because they are surrounded by voices, friends, and colleagues who serve only as a sounding board to reinforce such attitudes and behaviors, however the truth is much more objective than they even realize and pretty soon their folly will be made clear. 

The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 1:22 "Professing to be wise, they became fools..." This is the fate of those who seek to use pieces of truth to perpetuate lies. Their folly is always evident to those who are truly committed to truth seeking. Nothing will be hidden from plain sight on that final day when all things are laid bare before the Almighty God of the universe. The very one to whom all truth is derived is from whom all falsehood flees. The fool will be found out, and how humiliating will it be for him when the God he has so vehemently denied proves to be real, but so does the truth he so desperately suppressed. On that day the age of Sophistry will come to a screeching halt. No more will people be deceived, the truth will out, and those who have denied its power and clarity will receive their just reward.