As I’ve watched the Pat Robertson train wreck get worse and worse over the past few years, I’ve marveled at the way humans are drawn to caricatures. That’s what Robertson is – he’s a warped caricature of a thoughtful wise Christian leader. His foolish hurtful very-un-Christian pronouncements receive massive media coverage and widespread rebuttal from others in the Christian community, while the real thoughtful wise Christian leaders continue to quietly serve people like you and me.
Why does this happen? Why are we so drawn to weirdos?
I think it’s an intellectual short cut. It’s easy to dismiss whole swaths of people if you can lump them together with a well-known, oft-mocked fool. We can look smart and win a debate with very little effort when the person we’re debating makes no sense.
If we dislike Christians, we try to paint them all with the Pat Robertson or Westboro or Benny Hin or Mark Driscoll brush. We say, “Look at this/Listen to this one. They’re all crazy people who spout off, can’t think, manipulate others, and preach love but live hate (or, in the case of Westboro, who preach hate and live it too). They’re all the same.” In this way, we can avoid discussing the uncomfortable questions they raise about our lives, our beliefs, and our society.
If we dislike atheists, we hold up Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens as figureheads of atheism, and claim that every atheist is like these guys: angry and hateful and thinks religious faith is a mental defect. By dismissing them this way, we fail to hear the stories of how people come to believe God does not exist, and we can ignore the possibility of our own culpability as failed Christians in many of their stories.
When we’re the ones being unfairly represented, we’re quick to distance ourselves from those on the fringe of our group. We point out that they are caricatures, and in some cases, total imposters. We don’t bomb abortion clinics or picket funerals or pretend to heal people to get money or berate men to get a job in a recession. That isn’t us. We try to express thoughtful coherent defenses of our beliefs, and we complain at how we’re ignored, unheard, or dismissed because of those few crazies who misrepresent us.
But then we turn around and do the same to others. We lump whole political parties together with one easy-to-dismiss politician and call it a day, failing to engage in any of the serious questions they raise and resorting to name-calling in place of reasoned debate. We declare that suicide bombers and al-Qaeda represent all of Islam and claim that every practicing Muslim is like them. Then we regard everyone in traditional Islamic garb with suspicion and fear, instead of as neighbors and citizens who care as much about our community as we do.
When the peculiar grabs headlines, we forget this strange penchant for the abnormal… unless we’re implicated or associated in some way. We forget that the rule of extremes applies equally to everyone. We forget that the strange, the loud, and the obnoxious get all the press. We forget to look for the ordinary. We forget that most people with whom we disagree are average every-day people like ourselves, living and believing what they do in thoughtful, clear-headed ways.
We forget they are people too.
So next time someone grabs headlines for their bizarre declarations, let’s make a conscious effort to avoid lumping others in with them. We need to do the hard work to understand and engage with the real ideas instead of dismissing them out of hand as crazy.
Why do you think we’re so fascinated with the fringe? Who do you find yourself distancing from most often, and why?
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Funny – I’m working on a post that kind of examines the opposite of this! That while the fringe is fringe, it’s still a part of the thing and we can’t just say, “Well, they don’t represent me.” Because they kind of do, even if we don’t want them to.
But yes, it’s a lot easier to simply dismiss folks based on a caricature rather than to try to get to know them or understand them. And that’s definitely not acceptable.
Good thoughts here!
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Why do you say Dawkins and Hitchens are “angry and hateful”?
Hi Brian! Thanks for your comment.
I wrote this because those in the Christian community in particular have come under fire from them, and the fire is doesn’t stick to logical arguments. So, I can’t (and did not) say that these men are, in fact, angry and hateful, but I can say that they come across that way towards people of faith. Particularly when they try to explain religious faith as a mental defect. Honestly, it sounds to me like they feel betrayed by faith, or by people of faith, and one cannot help but be angry about betrayal.
Does that make sense?
No. It just sounds like a tired stereotype, the same way Jews are cheap and blacks are lazy.
For me, I find myself moving away from Pat Robertson and now deceased Jerry Falwell. But I’m really trying to put space between their ideas, not the people. I think we gravitate to those in the fringes because we want to move the spot light away from ourselves. Away from our imperfections, our erring ways, and it is much easier to mock those with more obvious flaws.
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the fringe folks do get the biggest spotlights, which is unfortunate. whenever we surround ourselves with people and perspectives just like ours, we’ll succumb to the game, too. it’s so much easier to caricature a movement or fringe figure when it’s completely abstract and we don’t know–and love–anyone who embodies it, too.
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I like your thoughts today. I tend to try not to do those things. I have people in my family that I love dearly, who are professed atheists. I happen to love them dearly, no matter what their beliefs, but not everyone feels the same. I have learned that we can be so intolerant of others. And so quick to judge. I think that most of us could learn a little more from the Saviors teachings and a little less from the appearance of things around us. Good thoughts today.
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It’s interesting to see how those who place themselves as more thoughtful and open have in the last few days painted driscoll with the westboro brush on the basis of an out of context coup. It seems to be as unfair and presumptive as those who wrote off Rob Bell on the basis of a promo video. Ironically, many of the ‘rebuttals’ of Driscoll’s clip say pretty much what he says in the rest of the sermon. We all need to be less eager to judge based on extracts. Of course, some will disagree with the reformed theology he preaches (why is no one laying into Don Carson for saying similar things?) And I’d agree with many criticisms of Driscoll and his approach, but it’s hypocritical the way many paint and dismiss him and others they disagree with. The reformed camp certainly doesn’t have a monopoly on intolerance of doctrinal dissent!
So here here to your call for more dialogue and less paintbrushing!
This is a very astute post. I loved it.
I definitely tend to distance myself from the religious right. I cringe at being lumped into the same pot with them, probably because I became a Christian late and spent my first 25 years making fun of those weirdos.
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this is a very thought-provoking post. lately God has reminded me just how much he loves both the judgmental and the judged. i am a recovering pharisee and daily find areas where i, sadly, can be judgmental. i do tend to distance myself from judgmental people (and pharisees}. however, i also love them and understand, and want to show them grace ~ because how else will they know it? so i’m trying to find ways to do so.
I honestly avoid mean spirited ‘leaders’ who generally just lord over people with condemnation. I’d rather my attention be steered toward grace and practical Christianity than the big hoopla circus we see gaining so much media attention.
Why do are they fascinated with that fringe? Pride. It makes us feel like we’re better or further along than they are. As Rain mentioned…grace for the pharisees? As people, yes! But not for their twisted teaching. I won’t lay down and let condemnation teaching run me or my friends over. I don’t often outright name “false teachers” by name on my blog, but I do rebuttal the twisted teachings that are so popular today.
Thank you for sharing this. I believe we look at the fringes because we believe we are not the fringe. And usually we are not. But we may not be the salt and light either. We are like the Pharisee thanking God for who he is, when we need to be the Publican. We pull out fringe people to point out how we are better. “…they that compare themseleves among themseleves are not wise.” Ouch. We also like to point out the homosexual and any who has more liberal views than us, because those are not our struggles. But our most acceptable sin in church is grumbling, complaining and criticism – which is the one sin we are told in James that Jesus will judge us for. In the here and now. (the judge is standing at the door.) We actually view criticism as our right, and anyone who will not speak up their mind is weak. Anyway, I ponder this alot these days, realizing that I need to tend to my own business, because judgemnt is God’s business. Mercy triumphs over judgement. And I know the argument well, “You are compromising.” No I am not, I am receiving and giving grace. Because I need it just like any one else. Period. I need His grace even more than others, because I have grown up fundamentalist and am still in recovery. Hello, my name is Karan, and I am a recovering Pharisee. How’s that for stepping out of the closet? Thanks again for sharing your heart.
In His grace alone,
Karan
Interesting thoughts. Not much we can do to change things though. The radical fringe sells. Moderates are boring.
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