cairngormmusings

The terms “cognitive dissonance” and “cancel culture” are modern ones, but that does not mean that there are not examples in Scripture. The first term refers to where people find it difficult to comprehend the evidence of their own eyes. In John chapter 9 there is the account of the man who was born blind whom Jesus then healed. After a question from his disciples as to why he had been born blind Jesus healed him by telling the blind man to go to the pool of Siloam and wash. After doing this he returned to where his home was seeing but his neighbours had difficulty in accepting his healing:-“His neighbours and those who had formerly seen him begging asked. “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” Some claimed that he was. Others said, No, he only looks like him” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” Though, if you think about it there are at least two reasons why they might conclude initially that he was somebody who just looked like the man. Firstly, a blind man without the slightest bit of vision does not look directly at the person they are engaging with so for the first time his neighbours would have seen his eyes focus on them. The second is possibly more obvious is that he would now walk like a normal sighted person. He had to insist that he was indeed the same man. But there was also what we often call “the elephant in the room” which is not overtly stated. Jesus had performed this miracle of the Jewish sabbath. This was undoubtedly in the back of the minds of his neighbours. So they took the man to the Pharisees to investigate his healing, possibly passing the buck to decide whether it was of God or not. On a previous occasion Jesus had challenged the Pharisees when there was a man with a shrivelled hand if it was right or not to do good on the Sabbath and they remained silent but walked out after Jesus healed the man. The Pharisees that the neighbours brought the man who had been born blind to may not have been the same individuals but their mindset was the same. After the man explained how he had been healed, possibly leaving out details that the Pharisees might have a problem with such as the distance he might have had to walk to the pool of Siloam. The initial response was “this man is not from God because, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” Others countered this by asking:- “How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?” Though this may have been a case of playing devil’s advocate as none seem to held on to this view by the end of investigation. They then made the mistake of asking the man what he thought of Jesus and he answered “he is a prophet.”

So the Pharisees then dragged in the man’s parents but they were on their guard. They were worried about being “cancelled” to use the modern term. They would not disclose anything further than that he was their son and he had been born blind. Because:- “His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.” So his parents told the Pharisees that he was old enough so they should ask him. If that isn’t “cancel culture” what is? So the parents escaped cancellation but the son was not so fortunate when he was called back. They started by saying “Give glory to God,” then said that the Son of God was a sinner. More cognitive dissonance. He replied by saying:- “One thing I know. I once was blind but now I see.” He concluded by saying, “nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. It this man is not from God, he could do nothing.” they cancelled him by throwing him out because he was “steeped in sin.” They obviously did not think that the doctrine of original sin applied to them. You see that the Pharisees were so triggered by the fact that he had been healed on the Jewish Sabbath that would rather that this man remained blind. They just could not realise that they were the ones who were spiritually blind.

David Rose, 2022.

As I am writing this there is war in Ukraine and much of the news broadcasts is devoted to this. How it will all end is unclear at this time. But no doubt it will end one day. The news media will move on to the next story, but the scars will take time to heal if at all. A few days ago I was walking in woods that had been previously felled during the Second World War by men from Newfoundland. By that time bulldozers were being introduced as a means of making tracks so that the timber could be extracted. The fact that Newfoundland was sending men to fell trees rather than fight alongside the British Army was in part due to the experience of the Newfoundland Regiment on the first day of the Battle of the Somme when the suffered terribly high casualties. After the war the hillside was bare for several miles, it took decades to completely replant the woodland felled. In the meantime the tracks made the Newfies’ bulldozers were livid scars on the hillside including the one shown in the picture above. But as you can see the forest has re-established itself and the evidence of the wartime scars has diminished over the years. From the valley below there is no sign of this track.

Sadly, there is no indication that a lasting peace ill happen anytime soon, especially a just peace. Though the emphasis of the action appears to be shifting further east. However, we need to be careful that we are not fooled by propaganda which is coming from both sides. There are claims and counter claims concerning “war crimes.” Though by invading through the Chernobyl radioactive exclusion zone it could be argued that the Russians have committed a war crime against their own soldiers, many of whom seem to have suffered severe radiation sickness if reports are true. This is unusual if not unique.

The wounds are too raw at the present time to begin the process of reconciliation and forgiveness, much as the outsiders we are might wish. Jesus told us to love our enemies and to reconcile with those we are in dispute with. But I doubt that many Ukrainians feel like forgiving the Russians who have invaded their land any time soon. A just peace must come first, but this does not appear to be likely to happen any time soon. Even so the scars will remain though they may not be obvious.

David G. Rose, 2022.