Has America Become Stupid?
At a particular point in my career, I was advised by those around me that certain descriptive words were taboo and should never be used. Among the set of banned words were Idiot, Moron, and Stupid. Fortunately, the word fool was not included in the list, or I might have lost all sense of reality.
All of these ‘banned’ words come down to describing a person who has lost all sense of judgment or prudence. They describe a person lacking common sense, reasoning, or understanding. They address the mental faculties of people who display characteristics of extreme intellectual disability. Even our dictionaries footnote these words as dated and broadly considered offensive.
And I get it, we need to soften the tone of our rhetoric in all of our debates, especially our political debates. After all, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1) Right? And calling each other idiots, morons, and stupid, isn’t exactly using gentle words intended to turn away wrath. However, what exactly do we do with all the idiots (errr, excuse me … the dense, dull, crass, simple-minded people) in the room?
Allow me to rephrase the question: Do we simply not use offensive words (or language) for the sake of not offending anyone? And is that what the Psalmist was trying to say when advising that gentle answers abate wrath?
We might find some answers to these questions and others in Matthew 23:13-39:
13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
In this passage we see some very offensive language directed at a very specific group of people. And the person using that offensive language is none other than Jesus Christ (Yeshua to our Hebrew brethren) the Son of God. And the group of people that offensive language is directed at is the scribes and Pharisees. The teachers, leaders, and respected people of the day. The language that was used was unambiguous and very straightforward. To refer to someone as a serpent or a viper and then ask how they could possibly escape Hell, implicitly implied they were of Satan and that their poison was corrupting and deceiving the people.
And the use of this language certainly did not turn away anger. Quite the contrary, it incited the wrath of those it was directed at. Which would eventually lead to their plotting and scheming His crucifixion. The rage within them ran so deep that when the Roman Court called out the sham of their accusations and went so far as to find no fault in Jesus Christ, the scribes and Pharisees practically incited a riot in the streets screaming “Crucify him! Crucify him!”.
And yet Jesus Christ still chose to use the harshest of language when addressing the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23. Why? Was it not because the poison that they were spreading was killing the people? We are told why such language was necessary from the very beginning:
13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Jesus Christ said that the scribes and Pharisees were literally leading the people into Hell and denying even those that were seeking to enter Heaven. And that is the real danger of not speaking plainly against those that are serpents and vipers. Because their venom is leading people straight into Hell.
Ray Comfort, a street evangelist known for proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ on college campuses across America, proclaims the law of God before he proclaims the grace of God. Because without the law, there is no need for grace. I must first be aware of my sin before I can understand my need for forgiveness.
And the insidiousness of the scribes and Pharisees that Jesus Christ is addressing here, is the reinterpreting of the law and the killing of the prophets. And that deserved to be met with the harshest of language because a people with no law. and no prophets to proclaim it to them, is a people destined for Hell.
And this is exactly what is going on in America today:
Those that profess themselves to be wise. Those that hold the titles of Doctor, Scientist, and Teacher in our country today, have become serpents and vipers. And their foolish rhetoric is leading us down the pathway to Hell. And we let them do it because we are looking for a gentler, less offensive approach.
The problem is The Law was meant to offend. The very intent of The Law is to lay bare our offense in order for us to realize the need for God’s Grace. And so, I am sorry if you find offense in my language, but Dr. Nisha Verma (OB/GYN) is leading us away from the precepts of God, and I for one, refuse to follow. And I hope and pray that you will not follow as well. I pray that America wakes up and realizes that the pathway to Hell is traveled by fools. And fools have no need for the Grace of God.
