July 28, 2010
The Emperor's New Clothes
I’m going to use a child’s story to illustrate a point, but this story really is for mature people, so please know I’m not going to insult your intelligence. Sometimes children are wiser than adults. In a moment, you will see what I mean.
“The Emperor’s New Clothes” (Danish: Kejserens nye Klæder) is a short tale by Hans Christian Andersen about two weavers who promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes invisible to those unfit for their positions or incompetent. The Emperor cannot see the cloth himself, but pretends that he can for fear of appearing unfit for his position or stupid; his ministers do the same. When the Emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, a child cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!” The tale has been translated into over a hundred languages. (Wikipedia)
What does this little tale have to do with a voters guide? Several days prior to the primary election in my home state, I received frequent calls from supporters of the prospective candidates for Senate. We’ll call these candidates John Doe and Bob So, both vying to represent the same political party. There were many enthusiastic calls on behalf of John Doe. Then one day I got a call from Bob So’s campaign, telling me not to vote for the person who was running negative ads. I hadn’t heard any negative ads at all. I looked up both candidates on the internet, and found something that Bob So had done that made me doubt him. Maybe he thought that news item on him was negative campaigning. The odd ending to this little story is that John Doe’s group continued calling me with positive messages. He never said a word about his opponent. Bob So, on the other hand, who was the first to mention negative campaigning, started plying me with statements about his opponent’s actions, including a quite frantic mailing just before the election. He even called me on election day, after I had voted.
How did I make my decision? I studied them both. They both had merits and demerits. I finally made my choice for the one who had the best understanding of the Constitution, because if the Senator does not understand the Constitution and how to apply it, I cannot place my trust in him, no matter how talented he might otherwise be.
So, what is negative campaigning? Some people call it “mud-slinging.” Neither of the above candidates engaged in mud-slinging. All they did was state the truth about the past actions of the other. They are being like the little child who told the truth about the Emperor. We need “little children” like that, because the adults—leaders, government officials, bureaucrats—often have ambitions for power that take priority over the truth. Sometimes they will do anything just to keep their job, even if it means telling a lie. Nobody told the little child in the above tale that he had to “see things a certain way”—he simply told what he saw. Everyone else may have been in denial, but he told the truth. Call the Emperor’s inappropriate attire “new clothes” if you will, but “not wearing anything at all” by any other name, is still “not wearing anything at all.”
Voters need to know the truth about every candidate. This is not mud-slinging. An example of mud-slinging would be if you call anybody and everybody a racist, no matter what the person says or does.
You cannot rely only on the words of the candidate himself, because he doesn’t want to tell you anything that would make you doubt him. This is why history is so important. There is a document in the Congress, entitled The U.S. Congressional Record, which contains a record of how every Senator and Congressman voted on every issue, and also the words of all the debates and testimonies. In this document you can find the truth about the actions of all of our elected officials—how they voted, whether they skipped the vote, etc.
Next, you need documents that contain true principles, so you can choose leaders who live by those principles, who will lead in righteousness. The best sources of those guiding principles are the Holy Scriptures, the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Federalist Papers, to begin with.
The best sources of history are biographies—stories about individuals who had an important effect on your nation. Focus on those who were heroes—those who lived by true principles and protected our liberty. I call these “epic stories.” These are a more reliable source of history than one “history book” written by one person or by a committee with a certain bias.
In the scriptures you can find examples of good kings and bad kings, good leaders and bad leaders. You will also find the principles that should guide a good leader, starting with humility. A good leader serves the people. If a candidate is arrogant, watch out. A good leader teaches true principles, and lives by them. There is no double standard, hypocrisy, or saying one thing and doing another. As the saying goes, a good leader not only “talks the talk”, he also “walks the walk.”
Jesus was a great leader. He was humble and served his followers. He never tried to force anyone to do things His way. That is the guiding principle for you to use when choosing leaders. God gave us liberty to choose our own actions. It is a natural right that cannot be taken from us. God does not force us to do anything, and He doesn’t want us to force others, either. A good leader’s responsibility is to protect that God-given liberty.
A good leader should protect your:
• life
• liberty
• property
It’s very simple. Good laws simply protect you from anyone (including government) who tries to violate your life, liberty, or property. Anything more or less than this is evil.
A bad leader might try to do any or all of the following things.
• Try to force people to do things his way, against the people’s will. (No matter what they call it, do you want someone controlling every aspect of your life?)
• Take property (or money) from one group and give it to another group. (“Stealing,” by any other name, is still “stealing.”)
• Say things that are not true. (“Lying,” by any other name, is still “lying.”)
• Take away freedom of religion or speech. (“Abuse of power,” by any other name, is still “abuse of power.”)
• Punish those who oppose him. (“Abuse of power”, by any other name. . . you know the rest.)
Wherefore, if from time to time in these posts we watch an “emperor” self-destruct, keep in mind it is not mud-slinging or personal attacks—merely stating facts which are readily observed but not easily denied. And remember the story of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”
Tomorrow you can look at some leaders’ actions. We will stand with the innocent little child and observe these leaders as they parade their actions past us for all to see. We will tell what we see. Then we will decide if the leaders are living by true principles, or if they are deceiving themselves and others. Tomorrow, Voters Guide, part 2: This leader called his actions a “fundamental transformation of America”. What would you call it?
Related posts:
Kings: what does the Bible say about kings?
Kings part 2: Loyal opposition
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