Speak no evil

I want to say up front that this is meant to be neither a defense of nor an attack on our sitting president. It is more about the conversations that I observe us having as a nation and as a society. Conversations around the dinner table. Conversations at the water cooler. Conversations on social media. Conversations with family. Conversations with friends. Conversations with anonymous people we we will never meet. Conversations about President Donald Trump.

Often times when President Trump is making the news for calling political opponents or world leaders derogatory names, tweeting verbal attacks against the media, or allegedly using profanity to drive home his point about other countries, his most staunch supporters say they admire him for it. They like that he speaks his mind, that he doesn’t hold back, and they don’t have to guess what he’s thinking.

But is that always an admirable trait? Should we all imitate that in our own daily lives? Would you give your waiter a bigger tip if he told you exactly what he thought about your cheap taste in wine or your unhealthy menu choices? Would you praise your child if he got suspended from school for telling the teacher just where he thought she could shove her homework assignment? Would you give your employee a promotion if he stormed into your office to let you know he thinks you are an a**hole head of a sh**y company?

If you answered ‘no’ to any of those questions, shouldn’t we hold our president to an even higher standard? Instead, some seem willing to make excuses for him or give him a pass or even sing his praises.

I am not naive enough to think he would be the first president to use foul or demeaning language. Nor can I pretend that I have not been embarrassed by my own mouth before. But to quote my mother (and probably yours) two wrongs – or three or four or more – don’t make a right?

It’s a new world we live in today with 24-hour news coverage and all forms of social media – a world President Trump has embraced. There is nothing secret or private anymore. Everything we say and do can now potentially have consequences.

Then there is the other side of the coin – those who did not vote for him, will not acknowledge him as their president, and will never approve of anything he says or does. They hold back nothing when using vile and profane language to describe what they feel is a vile and profane president and his vile and profane supporters.

I think, if we are completely honest with ourselves, the voters on the right would have to admit they would be outraged if former President Barack Obama had said some of the things President Trump has been accused of saying since he entered the political arena. Likewise, those on the left would have to acknowledge that they would be just as quick to jump to Obama’s defense.

Now, as a nation, we seem emboldened to say whatever is on our mind through the unaccountability of social media. Gone are the days of ‘if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.’ What is most striking to me, however, is that we don’t hold ourselves to the same standards to which we hold those on the other side of the argument. Some of the most mind-boggling posts I have read include the ones about “the hateful, mean-spirited and name-calling snowflakes and libtards (liberals + retards)” and “the f***ing president’s potty mouth” and “there is no room for intolerant people in my life”.

Just this pass week, I’ve read or heard people on both sides refer to each other as morons, idiots, and lowlifes. We’ve described each other as braindead, useless, and a waste of space. We suggest that those who don’t agree with us should leave the country, shut up, or crawl back into the whole from which they came. This is just a small sampling and doesn’t include the ones I would have to bleep.

For my Christian friends, shouldn’t we also hold ourselves to a higher standard? John tells us that “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35. Is that the message we are sending out?

Instead we are cursing people who have been made in the very likeness of God, those for whom Christ died on the cross. He created them and gave them life. He loves them. But we curse them.

When I started a blog, I said it would sometimes be a place for me to vent. And the way we speak to and about each other is an issue that grieves me deeply. It is not my intention to offend anyone or to suggest that I am not guilty of the things I have written about here.

My hope is that we can become more civil in our political discourses. Or all of our discourses, for that matter. How many have changed their minds because of repeated badgering or belittling on social media? How many are more inclined to listen to someone because they are calling them names or telling them where to go?

We are in this life together. In this world and in this country together. And there is much work to be done in all three. Together.

But enough from me. Below are just a few Scripture versus in which God’s Word admonishes us to control our tongue. If you disagree with what I have said in this post, maybe your argument is not really with me.

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

“Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” Psalm 34:13-14

“Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.” Proverbs 21:23

“A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” Proverbs 25:28

“It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” Matthew 15:11

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:2

“But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.” Colossians 3:7-8

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” Colossians 4:6

“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.” James 1:26

“ From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.” James 3:10