I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty much over the “whataboutism” tactic so frequently used in social media conversations and debates between pundits. It goes like this: Party A accuses Party B of doing something bad. Party B responds by changing the subject and pointing out one of Party A’s or Party C’s faults — “Yeah? Well, what about that bad thing you (or they) did?”
Marriage partners use it.
- Wife to her husband: “You lied about where you were last night!”
- Husband: “Well, what about you? You lie to me all the time!”
Any schoolyard pre-pubescent kid can master the “yeah-well-you-suck-too-so-there” defense. Or, “But what about my brother’s room? His is worse.”
You gotta love the nobody’s-perfect defense. “OK, I’m not perfect, but neither are you! I saw you smoking behind the barn!” If nobody’s perfect, I guess we all have permission to do all sorts of imperfect thing?
Politicians are masters of art. (Maybe one more than others.)
- Bill O’Reilly: “Putin is a killer.”
- Donald Trump: “There are a lot of killers. You got a lot of killers. What, you think our country is so innocent?”
Try to get him (or any politician) to admit a lie or an inconsistency in something he just said, it’s pointless because he’ll evade your question and drown you in false moral equivalencies or meaningless factoids.
Granted, whataboutism is an effective strategy to put others down while lifting ourselves up. It works on the principle that offense is the best form of defense. And in political debate these days, more than any that I’ve seen in my lifetime, insulting and offensive language is pervasive. Following the example of those with a bully pulpit have perfected “The Art of the Insult.”
- “They’re very stupid people.”
- “The congresswoman is an extraordinarily low IQ person.”
- “They’re losers.”
- “And these other ‘shithole’ countries.”
- “She’s a crazed, crying lowlife” and a “dog”
- The District Attorney is a “Soros backed animal,” a “degenerate psychopath” who “hates the USA.”
- The NY Judge is “deranged.”
- The president “is stupid. You know that.” “A clueless incompetent.”
And what grieves me most is that so-called Christian audiences cheer for it, eat it up, and follow suit! Most of the worst things ever said to or about me have come from Christians.
The apostle Peter used whataboutism with Jesus, who had just predicted his (Peter’s) martyrdom (John 21). Pointing to John nearby Peter did the classic whataboutism: “What about him?”
If you know anything about Jesus, he doesn’t get flummoxed or let people off the hook for bad debate tactics. “If I want him to live until I return, what is that to you?” he said. “You follow me!”
Sadly, yet predictably, a rumor got started that Jesus said John wouldn’t ever die. Which is an obvious twisting of Jesus’ words. Close cousins to whataboutism are rumors and conspiracy theories. Don’t get me started on those!
We church folk employ it just using different words for the same excuse: “Everybody’s doing it these days!” It being any number of behaviors that are self-destructive and disappointing to the Lord.
Remember when Bill Clinton’s affair became public, not to mention the precise details of what happened in the Oval Office? I was as much or more concerned about the youth of America excusing their premarital sexual experimentation (as did the president) as it wasn’t actual “sex.” “We’re not having sex when we…” Turns out my fear was not unfounded.
Substantive debate should be aimed at arriving at the truth, shouldn’t it? Yet many today on social media, on political debate stages, and cable news shows see disagreements as battles to be won. Their goal is to get their opponent to concede as much as possible without their conceding anything themselves. And in many cases, they’re trying to decimate, if not humiliate those on the other side.
Since my audience is largely “Christian,” I’ll point out that this is not a Christ-like tactic or goal! Do we seek to win people over to the truth or win an argument to make us look good––better than the next guy? If it’s the latter, we should confess our sin, humble ourselves before the Lord, and repent!
Carl Sandburg said, “If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell.”
Sound familiar?
barney wiget 