Tears win the day. . .

A little over a year ago, the then first female Bishop of London broke down in tears at the Church of England's General Synod, describing the 'micro-aggressions' and institutional barriers women face in the Church of England.  It is noteworthy, of course, because she is no longer the Bishop of London.  Sarah Mullally is the Archbishop of Canterbury.  She was addressing her contention that two of the six people from each local bishop recruitment committee responsible for choosing the Archbishops of Canterbury and York need to be women.  At that point she said: 'I would love to trust people to do the right thing but the truth is that women continue to be underrepresented.'   And, 'I would love to encourage women, which I do all the time, but there continues to be institutional barriers, we continue to experience microaggressions.'  Mullally had to pause and turn away from the podium twice to recover herself as she was overcome with tears.  She received a standing ovation from mostly women, joined by a few men. 

Tears won that day and, as evidenced by her choice as Archbishop of Canterbury. tears have continued to win.  Her argument did not have to stand up to scrutiny.  Her point did not have to be won on the ground of reason or truth.  It won on emotion alone.  Tears have the power to overcome nearly everything.  I am not at all suggesting that this is a female problem or one exclusive to the Church of England.  Just the opposite.  Tears come from all sides but especially from those who have no argument worth winning the day  It has become a new form of bullying.  We have cyber bullying but we also have the bullying of tears, of pure emotion and sentiment.  Tears, accompanied with a righteous outrage, have become a powerful tool in winning the day over a host of issues.  Anger and tears seem to be the currency of the liberal and progressive wing of things in particular.  When you cannot triumph on the basis of ideas alone, tears and righteous anger have the power to sway the people when your ideas and reason have failed you.

The danger here is that arguments and debates should be realms in which reason and fact have all the power.  Such sentimentality is a particular problem because it does not need truth or fact to win the hearts of the hearers.  Such sentimentality has the power to change not only society but the basis on which anything and everything is decided.  Victimization is adept at using tools that triumph over fact and truth and reason and there is no better victim than a tearful one.  Emotion has become the primary argument and the basis for deciding things that were once determined on the basis of truth and fact -- even when decided wrongly.   Emotion has become the ultimate good and final distinction on which all judgment is based.  Even gender is about how we feel and about our righteous indignation over those who would deny us.  But not all emotions are good.  When did we forget this?  Resentment against the injustices we feel were done to us has become the ultimate motivation in nearly every realm.  

Science refuses the inconvenient facts which contradict the narrative that has been adopted.  The need for justice or, better, revenge clouds nearly every purpose and want.  We seem to respect and reward those who are angry, who express their loud resentment of injustice, and who scatter their words with raw emotion most of all.  Passion is a wonderful thing but it does not redeem arguments without basis in fact or truth.  Indeed, it is the height of the new bullying that is happening on university campuses and even in religions today.  It is certainly this that is helping to unravel the common life of our culture and society and it has already done a very fine job of defining our political views and voting habits.  It has also worked very hard to afflict the Church and to create a way in which some Christians can without hesitation effectively overrule the truth of Scriptures and the consistent doctrine of the faithful from the get go.  Passion is not a bad thing but it cannot be a good thing when it robs truth and reason and fact from having their own stature and authority within the conflicts and disputes of Christianity.  When and where that happens, we have already begun to lose the Scriptures and silence the real voice of God.