Paganism and the Dictatorship of the Narrative

One of the oldest tropes going is comparing the Twentieth and Twenty-first century United States to the ancient Roman Empire. Post Republican Rome was in reality a monarchy that went to great pains not to self identify as such. For instance they didn't call their emperors emperors, this is a title applied by later historians. They called them princeps, or First Citizen, among other non monarchical titles they held. It's hard to argue that the US isn't an empire, what with manifest destiny, extraterritorial possessions and military bases in foreign countries, but no president or presidential hopeful would ever cop to something like that. And the average citizen would recoil at such a claim, as well. The reason for the dissonance between perception and reality is linked to the founding "myths" of both Rome and the US. In fairness I, think myth is too strong a word, in both cases, but at the very least the founding ideals of both places got perverted somewhere long the way. 

The comparisons go on. Football is compared to the gladiator fights. The entertainment industry and industrial news complex is often said to be nothing more than purveyors of bread and circuses, mindless diversions meant to keep the masses distracted from what is really going on. More recently some have observed that with the decline of Christianity and traditional religions pagan practice has begun to reemerge. The anything goes sexual mores of the Sexual Revolution also echo antiquity. The acceptance of abortion, euthanasia, the contraceptive mentality are a part of the re-paganizing of Western society. Each of these examples doesn't offer a perfect match between then and now, but as is said, history doesn't repeat, but it sure does rhyme. 

My purpose here isn't to compare and contrast the sexual mores of the ancient and contemporary worlds, or even to compare both civilizations more broadly. All I'm suggesting is that as Christian and Jewish values, rooted in Scripture and Tradition, exert less influence over the culture something else needs to come in and fill the gap, and what seeps in may not necessarily be pagan, but in our case, it is. What I've been thinking about lately is the concept of due process and the burden of proof. We don't appreciate how Biblical these concepts are, and as we put our traditional notions of innocent until proven guilty aside we are reverting back to the days of Rome, and this isn't a good thing.

The Romans believed in guilty until proven innocent. That a charge was made was sufficient for a person't life to be ruined. It was the accused's responsibility to prove that they didn't do something, and as is often said, proving a negative is practically impossible. Many were imprisoned, exiled and executed because of unsubstantiated accusations. Because the accuser only had to lay the claim, but not prove it, the system was often abused, with courts sometimes used to settle personal or political scores. 

The Old Testament says that an accusation needs to be attested to by at least two or three witnesses before a person could be condemned (Dt. 19:15), with harsh a punishment exacted if the testimony is proven to be false (v.16). Was justice perverted at times? Of course. Just look to the case of Ahab stealing Naboth's vineyard through "legal" treachery (I Kings 21). Jesus' own trial before the Sanhedrin was a miscarriage of justice (Matt. 27:1-31; Mark 15:1-20; Luke 23:1-25; John 18:28-19:16). No system of jurisprudence is perfect. But the Bible lays down a solid basis for judging guilt or innocence that at least makes people think twice before bringing false or frivolous charges.

Guilty before proven innocent often rules the day in the court of public opinion. It's always been the case. But the criminal justice system functions so that the passions of the moment don't determine the final judgment. Guilt or innocence is meant to be decided in an systematized, organized, dispassionate setting where just the facts determine the outcome. Do judges and juries get it wrong at times? Yes. As I wrote before no system is perfect, and none on this earth ever will be. But what we have is a solid system that shouldn't be scrapped so quickly or thoughtlessly. And make no mistake, there are those who would, in the name of social justice, tear asunder the very foundations of the justice system itself to arrive more speedily at the outcome they want. This isn't justice at all, but the will to power exercised in a most grotesque way. 

As for the court of public opinion, it's not ruled by principles of jurisprudence. As individuals and as a community we make judgments based on the best information we have at our disposal. We follow our gut instincts most of the time, not rock hard evidence. While I’m a firm believer in the power of intuition, hunches aren’t infallible. They may be guided by common sense and experience, but they can also be influenced by prejudices. In a politically polarized age we can be quick to judge guilt or innocence based on our ideology rather than on an honest examination of the facts as we understand them. We can be ruled by the dictatorship of the narrative, that automatically reads discrete, complicated situations through the lens of an overarching archetype that may not even apply. Our judgments are deemed honest and true because they fit the narrative, not because they fit the particular facts. Decisions reached in the court of public opinion should always be held as suspect, but the dictatorship of the narrative renders a healthy self doubt impossible.


As we lose the sense of due process, and with it the principle that the accused is innocent until proven guilty, these snap judgments based on a narrative as opposed to the facts become more likely, not just in the court of public opinion, but in actual courts of law as well. Jurors are chosen from among the general public. As more and more people are educated to follow the prevailing narrative as opposed to following the facts, the actual discerning of evidence and reaching an impartial verdict becomes more and more difficult, with miscarriages of justice far more likely. 

Serious allegations against politicians seeking public office or nominees to cabinet positions or judgeships should be investigated. The vetting or nomination process isn't a court trial, but the same principles need to apply. The seriousness of the charge alone, or even the apparent sincerity of either the accused or accuser, shouldn't be what determines the outcome of the process. We have gone from looking at the facts to deciding with emotions, which are easily manipulated. Emotions are even more easily manipulated when people approach a case with an ideologically driven narrative already firmly planted in their heads.

When due process and the burden of proof are thrown aside, whether formally or informally, we all lose. Justice becomes a matter of power alone. The left witch hunts against the right, and then when the right takes power, the opposite is the case. Anyone can be denounced for any reason by anyone for an offense allegedly committed at anytime, or even at some indeterminate time in the past, in a place that no one can remember with people who can't recall being present. No one needs to prove what they are accusing, the accusation is enough to unleash a moral panic. All that matters is that people are turned into players who fit a narrative, and it's the narrative that makes it true. 

Jesus commanded us not to judge, lest we be judged (Mt. 71-3). Most moralists will tell you the our Lord was speaking of judging the heart, but that we can and at times should judge actions (Lk. 12:57, 1 Cor. 11:13). Courts of law are primarily concerned with actions, though judging motivations and intent are certainly a part of the process. When discernment of facts is replaced by appeals to emotion we become less rooted in our Jewish Christian values, and become more like the mob of ancient Rome. We all become potential targets of enemies, personal and political. We become suspicious of others and they in turn look side eyed at us. We are all potential felons, whether the evidence adds up or not. No one is safe in a world ruled by the dictatorship of the narrative.