A Culture of Distrust

It didn't take long, did it?

It didn't take long for folks to begin demanding absolute proof that Osama bin Laden was dead.

"Where are the pictures?"

"Why did it take so long for the DNA evidence to be confirmed?"

"Are we really sure it was him?"

There are more than a few interesting conspiracy theories flying around as well regarding the al Qaida leader's death as well.

Why?

Put it bluntly, there is a nasty strain of distrust which runs through the populace of the United States of America.  Whether this is something placed in us inherently when our nation was founded or if it has been a learned behavior over time, I am not sure.   What I do know is it's there, and it's strong.

I wish I could point to the time when it started.  Perhaps it was when the Founding Fathers had a distrust of the authority of the English Monarchy.  Perhaps it was inherent in the waves of Protestant immigrants escaping religious persecution and their distrust of ecclesial authority.  Perhaps it's just part of our human nature, and living in the comparative freedom of the U.S. has allowed it to blossom, grow, and thrive like no other place.  I just don't know.

But what I do know is it seems to have gotten worse over the past couple of decades.  I think technology has a lot to do with it as well as a cultural move toward relativity.  Some call the cultural move "post-modernity", and one of its main traits is a focus on the individual as the sole and final arbiter of truth.

I know my college learning tilted me in such a direction.  A mantra repeated over and over was, "Question everything!"  Of course, I found out a little later that this meant I was to question everything EXCEPT the point of view of my professors.  What they spoke was the truth-- at least from their perspective. :-)  God forbid that someone either question them or have the audacity to attempt to think independently!

Ah, but even thinking "independently" presents its own challenge.  For in order to ascertain information, one must come into contact with others or information filtered through others.  One simply cannot independently verify every single piece of information one is presented with.

For instance, most people who have some sort of scientific learning will tell you atoms exist.  But how do they know?  How many folks have actually worked to measure and "see" an atom?  And how many rely upon such information disseminated through text books, professors, and others?  One of these is first hand information, and the other is second, third, or even fourth hand information!  Do you trust your sources?

And that is the rub, I think.  If we spend time questioning everything, we will come to distrust our sources.  Why?

Because our sources will make mistakes.  Human error will occur.  Bias will happen.  No source is fully trustworthy.  Promises will be broken.  The shortcomings of everyone and everything will eventually be exposed.

Therefore, it's not surprising folks are questioning whether or not bin Laden is dead.  It's not surprising folks are questioning whether or not President Obama is a natural born citizen.  It's not surprising folks are questioning the reasons behind gas prices spiking.  It's not surprising folks question religious authority. 

There is no consensus on who we can and cannot trust.

There is no agreed upon, reliable source of authority.

And so we turn to ourselves, and those of us who know ourselves better shudder in horror.  We realize too our own short comings.

And so we yearn for someone or something we can trust.  We yearn and desire (and I think fear a little too) someone or something who will convey to us the truth.

But even if that truth were to smack us in the face; even if someone were to rise up and tell us the truth, we'd probably try to silence them.

I remember a very powerful governor once asking a simple question, "What is truth?"

And the Truth was standing right before him soon to be led away and crucified.

Maybe it's just human nature.

Maybe we are simply born into such a condition.

Maybe it is our nature to arrive at the point where we will question everything and trust nothing.

For when we finally arrive at the point of realizing the hopelessness of such a situation, we will turn to the One who offers us hope--who offers us the truth--who breaks through the culture of distrust and leads us on a different path--a path that seeks the truth in love of God and love of neighbor instead of distrust.