The Transvaluation of American Values

The Atlantic has published an excellent piece by former Republican presidential speechwriter Peter Wehner titled "Trump Is Marching Down the Road to Political Violence." For those who are interested in reading the article in its entirety, you may do so by following this link: The Road to Political Violence. In the piece, Wehner warns the Republican Party about the dangers inherent in entertaining or accepting Trump's lies about the 2020 election and what happened at the U.S. Capitol in January. Wehner underscores the fact that swallowing the former president's lies will overturn many of our most cherished values as Americans (values that many of us would say have their foundation in Christianity).

He wrote: "The repetition of the lies not only causes tens of millions of Americans to embrace them; over time, it deforms their moral sensibility. It creates an inversion of ethics, what in philosophy is known as the “transvaluation of values,” in which lies become truth and unjust acts are seen as righteous. Believing the deceptions also becomes a form of virtue signaling, a validation of one’s loyalty to others in one’s political tribe. In this case, of course, what we’re dealing with is not just any lie; it’s a particularly destructive one, among the most dangerous a democracy can face. It erodes confidence in our elections, the rule of law, and our system of government."

Wehner continued: "The mindset that this gives rise to in MAGA world is something like this: We are victims of a monstrous injustice. Our revered leader, Donald Trump, was removed from office by illegitimate means. It was done by those who are determined to destroy us, and to destroy our country; they cheated their way to power. Nothing like this has ever happened before in American history, and we must employ every available weapon at our disposal to undo this historic abuse of power, this coordinated assault on our rights. If others won’t protect us, we will take matters into our own hands. We would prefer it not to be violent, but sometimes violence is a necessary recourse, and we are in uncharted territory. We will do what we must. After all, we are victims of 'THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY.' This is how the road to political violence is paved."

Yes, Wehner's assessment of the direction of the Republican Party (and America more generally) reminds me of something written long ago in Scripture. Isaiah once wrote:  "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" --Isaiah 5:20 I am also reminded of something that Jesus said to one of his disciples about violence. In the twenty-sixth chapter of Matthew, after one of his disciples had sliced off the ear of one of the high priest's servants, we read: "Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." --verse 52