“Misconduct Allegations, The Truth, And Playing Bad Tracks On Repeat”

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

The track continues repeat: a successful male public figure is publicly accused of sexual misconduct by a woman whom he encountered in years past, he is fired, he is publicly shamed by various media outlets, and his entertainment or political career is immediately declared dead. (Comedian Aziz Ansari is this week’s iteration of all this.) Then that’s it. And we move on to wait for the next spin of the same cycle.

But has anybody noticed the gaping hole in that narrative? Why is no one talking about the truth?

As a society, we should all be screaming for the truth in all these cases. Which party is telling it? And what IS the truth in each of these instances of accusation?

Instead, humanists and many believers cry in chorus: “Witch! Burn her!” (Or, in these cases, him.) This is, of course, not the first time this sort of thing has happened in our nation's history (note just the first line of this article). Which—far from being an excuse for the current behavior—makes the current matters far more shameful because we have not learned our own fatal pattern. Thankfully, these men haven’t suffered the violence done in a literal witch hunt, but the story continues with almost no mention by anyone of the need to investigate or validate what’s been purported.

I’m not saying any of this to defend either side of the story. My suspicion is that investigations and genuine pursuit of the truth would show the women’s accusations were well founded in the vast majority of these cases. But the reality is that no one party should be able to wield the power of accusation, judgment, and sentencing without thorough attempts to ascertain evidence and a reasonable verdict.

The Lord’s kingdom rule includes a demand for investigation of THE TRUTH in any criminal prosecution. The Law of Moses commanded, "Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established" (Deut. 19:15—pay special notice to the whole context). And the wise man says, “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame" (Proverbs 18:13). We should all—especially Christians—be calmly and yet adamantly demanding that the truth be known, regardless of who it favors and who it convicts. We can’t be so fickle as to just parrot the mob’s demands.

And let me offer a humble yet serious word of warning to my fellow ministers who may read this: don’t choose a side to validate or invalidate unless you are certain you know the truth. Until then, continue to preach everything the Bible says. Firmly remind everyone of the biblical truth that men must respect women. AND preach the biblical injunctions against bearing false witness. AND preach the biblical wisdom of getting the full story in any conflict situation. AND preach the Biblical realities of repentance, mercy, forgiveness, and renewal.

This song wasn’t a pleasant one in the first place; let’s be sure we really know what we’re doing before we let the track repeat again.

- Dan Lankford, minister

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