From Truth To Sell-Ability
Further thoughts on the conversation about the quote “Justice is what love looks like in public”, previously discussed here.
Does your internal definition of rhetoric allow for righteous bias? What I mean is, is bias ok as long as it turns out that the idea being promoted it is good for the receiving party? This is a dive into semantics I guess. Though I have this nagging problem in my conscious with being sold anything, whether its good for me or not. I have a hard enough time accepting any promotional speech or phrasing when its attached to something, even when I think the presenter’s true heart and soul is behind it. Why can’t truth and transparency be the tools used to promote an idea or action? Instead of catch phrases and such. It’s fashionable to be charitable. That sucks. We should be charitable for the sake of Love, not because its cool.
My definition of rhetoric tends to disregard completely whether or not the idea is good or bad for me. If you’re selling (trying to convince) me of something that isn’t truth, you’re not loving me, and doing me dis-justice. Thats kind of a funny spin on this quote, huh? The use of rhetoric to promote love and justice is actually doing me dis-love and dis-justice? Its marketing, convincing me to buy something whether I need it or not, whether its true or not. Since rhetoric disregards truth, it could be considered, simply, not right. As in, “God frowns upon it,” or at least, dis-love and dis-justice, because at the core, the promoter of an idea doesn’t care about its truth beyond its selling capability. Its a shift of the definition of truth: from quality to sell-ability.
What is it about us humans that makes us have to have catch phrases and marketable ideas? Why are we so blind to truth if its not packaged right? Why do we live and die by rhetoric when rhetoric is inherently wrong? When did we lose the self-awareness that showed us how much our capitalism and consumerism caused us to abandon truth for sell-ability?
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I agree. Created in the image of God, who is the perfect marketer (the rainbow, circumcision, etc.), we have the innate desire to bring glory to something (worship), and because we are fallen, the desire that is meant to worship Jesus is used by us in an attempt to glorify ourselves (idolatry). That considered, when people gather, no matter how righteous the cause, sin and agenda will be there, and, as you linked to here, we have become so numb to unmarketed truth that it no longer has an effect on us. Even more, the problem with “truth and transparency [being] the tools used to promote an idea or action” is that we have a colossal fear of truth and transparency, that if anyone ever knew who and what we truly were, we would be abandoned.
[...] the superiority of the right or the goodness of Christian patriotism. Argument tends towards rhetoric, and objectivism leads to truth. Real truth, not pretend truth. The conclusion I think Claiborne [...]
@jthurston – great thoughts, my friend. you’re on to something in particular with your statement that we have a fear of truth and transparency. its something that has played into our stray from those values in our culture.
here’s the thing w/ “selling”- when you want market something…a biz, a non-gov. group, a product- usually- you believe in it. and you believe that if you’ve benefitted from it, others will too. as a result you try to pass it on and of course, there is nothing wrong from making a living out of it. however in the world we live in…you can be transparent about the thing you’re trying to sell, be honest about it…but you still need a catch phrase- b/c you want people to remember. and the human brain isn’t always going to catch the details, they’re going to catch the point of your story, your catch phrase…your rhetoric….
it’s true that our culture is often afraid of truth…but sometimes in order to make them understand, the mind needs a story, an example, a “parable” to associate it w/. i believe more often than not, that has to do w/ the human mind, than the fear.
truth can be harsh, but it should never be presented..unkindly. and our choice of words can be important when communicating…for better or worse.
just a few thoughts…
man, amos, i wish we had a whole day at a coffee shop and a handful of people!