Jurassic Park Syndrome--February 11, 2022

Jurassic Park Syndrome--February 11, 2022

"How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue--a restless evil, full of deadly poison." [James 3:5b-8]

One of the insidious dangers of living in a society that prides itself on freedom of speech is that we can be so focused on demanding our rights to say things that we never spend adequate time reflecting on what is worth being heard.  And if we are only laser-focused on "My Right To Say Whatever I Want" and never ask, "What actually would be helpful to speak into this situation?" we run the risk of causing terrible harm to people around us and remaining completely oblivious to the damage.

Please, don't get me wrong.  I understand both the historical context and the value of our country's constitutionally enshrined heritage protecting the freedom of speech.  I understand the rationale behind a First Amendment that guarantees the freedom to say what one wishes to say, and the need to be able to protect speech that is unpopular, unorthodox, difficult to hear, or controversial.  And I understand the logic that absolutizes the freedom of speech such that the government cannot punish you for saying things even when they are demonstrably false, deeply hateful, or grossly vulgar.  Knowing even our own history as Christians who were regularly thrown in jail, tortured, or executed by the Empire for refusing to acknowledge Caesar as Lord with their words, I have an appreciation that we have created a system of government in which I can't be thrown in jail for voicing an opinion against the powers of the day.  And I also get that such freedom to speak for me also requires granting the same freedom from government censorship to others when they have things to say, regardless of whether I like them, agree with them, or can verify that their claims are false.  That's all part of how the system has to work.

But while I can understand and appreciate that we have rules in place to keep the army from showing up at my door to arrest or shoot me if I say something critical of the government, I do worry that sometimes we Americans (and American Christians in particular) think of our speech only in terms of shaking off limitations.  It is very easy to think that the freedom of speech means that NO ONE can EVER put limits on what I say, and I can NEVER face consequences that result from what I say.  (This, of course, is clearly wrong even from a basic legal standpoint, since the First Amendment only protects me from the government's ability to limit my speech, but it doesn't guarantee me the right to a platform on social media, or protect me from other people refusing to do business with me if I say terrible, hateful, or unpopular things; nor does the First Amendment require other people to listen, share, or publish what I say if they don't like it.) We can be so insistent that no one can ever put limits on what we say that we assume everything that CAN be said, OUGHT to be said.  And that just ain't so.

In a way, our problem is rather like the line of Jeff Goldblum's character in the original Jurassic Park movie:  "You were so preoccupied with whether you could, you never stopped to ask if you should."  In the movie, of course, the question is whether it was a good idea to clone dinosaurs from DNA extracted from mosquitoes fossilized in amber.  And when the dinosaurs break free from their enclosures and start eating people, the movie's answer seems to be pretty clearly, "No, this was not a good idea."

I don't think it's off the mark to hear James in the same vein here with today's verses.  He is deeply concerned about the ways our words can become like runaway velociraptors.  There is something amazing and wonderful about the human capacity to share ideas through written and spoken language, but it requires great care and thought to decide how to use that awesome capacity well.  Otherwise we are back to Jurassic Park Syndrome--we get so focused on insisting we CAN say whatever want that we never stop to ask what we SHOULD say.  And that's just the thing: while it is appropriate to have laws that keep the government from imprisoning people for what they say, that's not the same as assuming everything that could be said, should be said.  Some things are not mine to say (i.e., they are someone else's business); some things are not mine to say without having the facts (i.e., they are not matters of mere opinion or feeling). And some things are not worth saying... at all.

For disciples of Jesus (which is what Christians are supposed to be), the right question is not, "Don't I have the right to say whatever I want?" but rather, "What does the way of Jesus lead me to say in this circumstance, and how would Jesus have me say it?"  Other voices in the New Testament can help flesh out some that, too.  Saint Paul would tell us that it is important to be truthful as well as to speak with love.  He would also add that it is worth being winsome rather than crude, sincere rather than disingenuous, empathetic rather than judgmental, and humble rather than arrogant with our words.  Jesus (and James later on in this book) will tell us to mean what we say rather than to hedge our talk with weasel-words that allow us say things that are "technically" not lies, but come awfully close, or to make promises we cannot possibly keep.  James will also tell us in our next few verses not to speak evil of anybody made in the image of God (which is everyone).  And all of today's verses from James remind us of all that can (and often does) go wrong when we don't stick to those modes of speaking.  So easily, our words can become "full of deadly poison." And surely James has seen it happen before, as fragile hearts have been harmed by cruel or careless words.

This is why it boggles my mind to hear Respectable Religious Folk (and often Respectable Religious Leaders, at that!) being crude, cruel, and careless with the truth in their speech.  Whether it's the sad cliche of supporting public figures who are petty, spiteful, mendacious and mean by saying, "Well, they just tell it like it is, and they get the job done!" (when in actuality, neither of those are true), or it's the willingness of folks to spread messages that they either know to be false or cannot possibly have verified on their own, all too often we do just what James warns us against.  And when folks get called out for passing along disinformation or amplifying the voices of liars and demagogues, the go-to response in our culture is, "Hey, it's a free country--you're allowed to say whatever you want, however you want to say it."  And again, that's exactly the same trap of American culture and the Jurassic Park scientists all over again: we are so insistent that no one can tell us we "can't" that we never stop to ask whether we should speak in those ways.

James doesn't want us setting a rogue Tyrannosaurus on the world, causing hurt and harm to others while we prattle on about how we have the "right" to do and say whatever we want.  He's lived through too much pain before when people were cruel, crude and careless with the truth to let us off the hook. Today, maybe it is worth us trusting his experience (if we don't have any of our own to learn from) and to shape our speech in the likeness of Jesus' own truth-telling, compassion, humility, and care.

Today, let's approach every conversation--in person, online, and everywhere else--as though we are both talking to Jesus and speaking for Jesus.  And whatever doesn't make the cut through those two filters... maybe doesn't need to be said at all.

Lord Jesus, train our hearts and minds to speak in ways that reflect your character.