Beyond Shameless: Why Scandals Don’t Stick

Recently the New York Times published a fascinating article titled “Why Scandals Don’t Bring Down Politicians Anymore: It’s about more than just shamelessness.”

 

I’m old enough to remember Gary Hart, the Democratic presidential nomination front-runner in 1988. He was on the probable path to run against George H. W. Bush, that is, until rumors of an extramarital affair emerged. He left the race. Later, a photograph was published in the National Enquirer of a young woman sitting on Hart’s lap while he was wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with “Monkey Business”, the name of his yacht. Really?

It was the end of his political career. How times have changed.

The NYT article states that shame is no longer a driving force in our political cultures, not just in America, but globally. It offers credence to the idea that extreme polarization has trumped any sense of public shame.

For instance, it quotes Mariano Torcal, a Spanish political scientist who observes that voters in his country are now like hardcore sports fans who stick with their teams through thick and thin: “They tend to exonerate the responsibility of the leaders and say, ‘This is a campaign of manipulation, orchestrated by the media.’”

The article states that “partisan outlets have an incentive to treat even minor misbehavior by the other side as a major scandal, which can create a ‘cry wolf’ effect as voters assume that all scandals are just partisan media narratives.” Likewise, politicians can claim any exposed indiscretion as a “political witch hunt” and gain even more support from their die-hard followers.

As the article points out, shockingly, these scandals even help politicians in our “highly polarized media environments.”

A current example is Ken Paxton’s run for the Texas governorship. Paxton is plagued by scandals in the Texas statehouse, from impeachment by his own Republican party majority for bribery and obstruction of justice, to an indictment on felony charges, to you-name-it. He is now his party’s nominee, claiming he’s the victim of—you guessed it—a political witch hunt.

Though the article camps in the political arena, it’s not so difficult to see parallels in the Church.

The recent revelations in the Southern Baptist Convention exposed decades of cover-ups of child molestation and abuse within its pastorates—a seemingly good-ol’-boys power base that ignored indiscretions (let’s call it what it is: sin) and refused accountability. High-profile leaders referred to the accusations as attacks, hoaxes, and even a “snipe hunt”.

Google “snipe hunt” if you’re confused.

And it’s not just the SBC. There are a host of denominations and networks that fill the bill. It’s never a good day when Julie Roys shows up at the church office.

As Jesus put it, the wheat and the weeds will simply grow up together, but someday an assessor with a scythe will arrive and the separation will begin.

Does that sound judgmental? Of course it does. There’s no avoiding that language in the gospels. What’s more, it begins with the Church according to the apostle Peter. And that should make us all circumspect, because if we aren’t, we will have our own trouble holding those accountable who are abusing the grace offered to them. We cannot shrink from speaking truth to power, even at the risk of putting our own team in a poor light.

The NYT article ends with this point-blank line: “When the link between scandals and consequences starts to break down, the implications for democracy can be serious.”

That’s chilling.

But for us in the faith community, I would modify it slightly: “When the link between scandals and consequences starts to break down, the implications for the Church’s moral authority can be serious.”

We must speak truth to power in our governmental contexts, regardless of party affiliation (re: John the baptizer). But we lose that right when we can’t even manage our own house.

Dave Workman | The Elemental Group

“The day is coming when the world is going to stand before a jury made up of followers of Jesus. If someday you are going to rule on the world’s fate, wouldn’t it be a good idea to practice on some of these smaller cases? Why, we’re even going to judge angels!”  ~Paul

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