Scandal! What a word. If you haven’t heard there has been (yes, I know, how can one keep track) there has been another scandal. This time the scandalizer is, purportedly, the deceased Apologist Ravi Zacharias. Ravi is, I must say, a hero to me and to multitudes who found his kind, winsome, wise, and powerful defense of the claims of Christ to be an inspiration. Ravi is the kind of man with the kind of ministry that people do, and should, emulate.
But is there a dark side? Was there, lurking in the shallows of his soul, a vicious abuser of women just waiting to pounce on a likely victim? Was this ostensibly righteous man who advocated Christian morality really, underneath it all, a depraved pervert? Could this paragon of the faith really have been a gutter-dweller the likes of which Epstien would find commendable?
I mean…maybe, but prolly not, right.
Of course, all of us are sinners and none of us has been Sanctified. So we know, or at least all wise Christians know, that all of us are subject to falling and failure. Men are frail – the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. We know this. So, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that Ravi may be a dissipated pervert who got off on getting himself off.
But the question is: is it likely? You see, anyone can make any accusation against anyone. Now, you run the risk of a defamation suit if you aren’t careful. But, it’s pretty safe to lodge and accusation in this country. Especially for a woman to lodge a complaint against a man in the incoherent #metoo era where we talk about violence against women, but can’t define what a woman is. But just because someone is accused doesn’t mean they’re guilty. In fact, just because there is an accusation doesn’t mean it’s a reliable accusation. Trustworthiness matters. Likelihood matters. And with the information we have in front of us now, I would say that it strains credulity to believe that Ravi did the things he’s accused of. Is it possible? Sure. Is it likely? No. Should there be a mass investigation by every church or parachurch organization that had any affiliation with Ravi? I mean, if they want, but I, personally, find this whole accusation thing a bit untoward.
If these acts really happened, why did no one go to…I don’t know…the police? Or RZIM? Or…Ravi’s business partner? Or…like, literally anyone who could have done anything, whatsoever? If they didn’t, why not? If they did and those organizations chose to take no action, why not? I think there are a lot of unanswered questions that need to be considered before we A) say a full scale investigation is worth our time and effort B) have any reasonable expectations that an investigation would prove anything C) begin to launch outrageous slings and arrows at man who served Christ in the most public of ways for decades without ever having a credible accusation against him.
But that’s not the age we live in. And that’s frightening. It’s frightening that an accusation is tantamount to guilt in our society. It’s frightening that there are people saying “believe all women” and “believe the victim”. Believe ALL women? Every one? And why say “believe the victim”? Everyone wants to believe the victim, but saying: “believe the victim” presupposes their allegation is true. So, we’re what to always believe all women, and especially to believe them when their accusing someone of a very disgusting and heinous crime? Just…believe them…no evidence needed…just like that, ey? I think that that’s kinda hard to do, because sometimes…I know, this is a shock and may hurt some people’s feelings to hear…well, here goes, I’m gonna say it anyways – women lie. There, I said it, women lie. Also, so do men. Also, again, this may come as a shock – men and women are both humans. We’re both susceptible to the same frailties. If men lie, and they do, so do women. But that’s not the direction our culture is moving. We’re just supposed to believe all women.
But, what, exactly, about being a woman makes you eminently believable. Are women inherently more honest than men? more virtuous? better? are women just plain ol’ better than men? And how does this work with people suffering from gender dysphoria? If a man identifies as a woman does that mean that we should believe him? Do we believe all women, even if they have penes and beards? What if a woman identifies as a man, do we believe her? Does she immediately become a member of the Patriarchy once she identifies as a man? What about the man who identifies as a woman? Is he STILL a member of the Patriarchy? This is all so confusing. I don’t know whom to default believe without seeing evidence? I don’t know who has a default benefit in all matters moral and legal! Argh.
And, as psychotic as that all sounds (and it sounds that way…’cause it is) there are other and more important issues at stake! Here’s the bigger point – whenever a culture gets to the point that an accusation is sufficient to ruin someone’s life without, ya know, due process, a trial, the opportunity to confront your accusers, ya know, the whole jury of peers, beyond a reasonable doubt, stuff maybe, I know it’s crazy, and probably it’s just my White, Male, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Christian, Patriarchal, Bourgeois Middle Class Privilege speaking for me to demand evidence to be presented. But it seems clear from history that whenever a culture gets to the point where the accused are automatically guilty, justice is no longer justice. It’s now a Witchhunt. And we all know how Witchhunts go! Sure, it’s fun in the beginning because the whole society can come together and ostracize the weirdos that nobody liked anyways; and getting rid of deplorables and undesirables, while simultaneously feeling virtuous, is a big score for any society. Yuge. But after you grab the low hanging fruit of the smelly kids, now’s when Witchhunts aren’t so fun. Because once that snowball gets a rolling it will crush everything in its path. So everyone who doesn’t wanna become a permanent alpine decoration makes sure to get out of the way by overdoing their commitment to the cause. People outdo eachother in their efforts to be orthodox, or good Jacobins, or good Communists, or Good Americans, or truly Woke.
And, sadly but truly, Witchhunts are a crisis not to let go to waste because a Witchhunt is a great time to steal other people’s expensive stuff. There’re just a few simple steps.
1) Identify someone whose stuff you want to steal.
2) Denounce that someone whose stuff you want to steal.
3) Steal their stuff.
It’s really just that easy – but wait, there’s more. You can also make a denunciation to get yourself off the hook. Nothing establishes your Witchhunting bona fides like denouncing your friends and family!
Now, we’re not barbarians, you can’t just go to their house and take their stuff after the denounced are [imprisoned, hanged, guillotined, drowned, burned, sent to the gulags, blacklisted, cancelled]. No, no, no, we’re not savages. You can’t just go ghoulishly rifling through dead neighbors’ property! Quel dommage! We civilized folk sue them in civil court for “damages”. Yeah, that’s the ticket. There’s a word just concrete enough to get to people’s feels but abstract enough to be vague.
I mean, if Goody Proctor stole your man, you just tell everyone you saw Goody Proctor with the Devil. Easy Peasy Slanderous Murder-by-Proxy.
Now, eventually, these things burn themselves out. PUN! Get it? Burn…themselves…burn…witches…yeah, you get it…no, don’t shake your head…you know you laughed. Anyways, these things burn themselves out because eventually people either A) catch on or B) the wrong person is denounced. Because the thing is, these things only work as long as society, at large, permits them to. I mean a good ole witch-burning is cathartic, so it plays to the low-brows. The high-brows know this and let a certain amount of it go on. You know, the whole panem et circenses philosophy. But once it ceases to be to their advantage to have people denouncing and burning and drowning and beheading, they clamp down – or at least they try to…ask Max Robespierre about the importance of timing and crowd-control. Letting hoi polloi hunt witches is a great way to let society blow off some steam, purge enemies, and distract from institutional failures. You just, ya know, you just gots to get that timin’ right.
But, sooner or later, people, even the little people, they catch on. They realize that all Wokeness is performative Wokeness. They realize that people aren’t playing the game in good faith and then they get worried. And that’s normally about the time it quits.
I don’t like the direction our culture is going. I don’t like Witchhunts. The only people who do are people who prefer power over justice and vengeance over righteousness. Witchhunts are the tool of the petty and incompetent and pompous and the manipulative. But it’s no way to govern a society. And its no tool to correct the errors of culture.
We need to stop playing this game. I know; I know it’s fun to level-up your status by dogpiling on the accused. I know it’s intoxicating to have the instant validation of victimization. I know that it’s cathartic to try to destroy those we don’t like and with whom we disagree. But this game ends badly. It ends badly because it’s a bad game. And if you play it – you’re bad.