BELIEVING DOESN'T ALWAYS MAKE IT SO

You will be surprised at who wrote the following.

The Big Lie - All this was inspired by the principle--which is quite true within itself--that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.

—Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, vol. I, ch. X[1]

It seems strange to quote Adolf Hitler for anything, but his explanation of the big lie seems to fit the circumstances. And certainly, he was a master of the big lie. So what big lie am I talking about?

A Mr. Calvin Nauman of Rotterdam, NY had an angry letter to the editor in the Schenectady Gazette that caught my eye the other day. It was not because I necessarily disagreed; it was because of his use of the big lie to justify his position.

He wrote, speaking of local columnist Carl Strock, “Carl also seems to get a kick out of making fun of the Christians, and though he claims to have several Bibles, doesn’t seem to believe that there really is a God.” Fair enough, although I am not sure that owning several Bibles is a prerequisite for believing in God. Regardless, if that is Nauman’s belief, then he is entitled to it. He offers no justification for the statement other than his feeling (belief) that Strock “doesn’t seem to believe.”

Nauman, however, writes in his next paragraph, apparently to justify another of his beliefs, “There is mention of God in the constitutions of all 50 states and on our money also. There’s a creator behind it all – Darwin’s theory [of evolution] is a bunch of hogwash.” You have to wonder how this supports his statement that “Carl also seems to get a kick out of making fun of the Christians,” but Nauman must feel that it does and this his position is made stronger by invoking the constitution of “all 50 states and on our money also.”

This is a subtle use of the big lie. Not that what he says is false, but as Hitler noted, All this was inspired by the principle--which is quite true within itself--that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility. Nauman no doubt feels his belief in God is made stronger by injecting the certain force of credibility  that all 50 states mention God in their constitutions.  No bible needed.

There is safety in numbers. When we want to justify what we believe, we instinctively look for support by turning to friends and colleagues who believe as we do. This does not make our belief true, just more believable, at least to us. The six-year-old who believes in Santa Clause will defend that belief by noting, “All my friends believe in Santa Clause.” And in his or her mind there is the comforting thought: See, they can’t all be wrong, so I must be right to believe as I do.

An adage states that birds of a feather flock together. This should remind us that most of our friends believe as we do because … well, because they believe as we do. Hence, when we are comforted or encouraged in our beliefs because “everyone we know feels that way,” we should stop and ask just how many people we know who feel differently. Our circle of true friends is often much smaller than we may admit.

There are people, like Nauman, who believe the evidence for God is all around us; the evidence is there for those who will open their eyes and minds. That God created the heavens and the earth. He is therefore justified in saying (because that is what he believes) that Darwin’s theory of evolution is a bunch of hogwash. Others feel (believe) he ignores the facts when he denounces Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Neither side will win their argument so long as the foundation for it rests on what they believe.

Invoking the name of 50 states or 50 people does not change that fact.

As a school administrator, I and other administrators often had to deal with “the big lie.” That is, there would be an incident involving two or three students, a fight, say. By the time the angry calls started coming in, the incident involving three students had become multiple incidents involving a great many students. And always, concerned parents reported having heard from several other parents about “these fights” going on at school.

What they had heard was about one fight reported 50 times. The big lie took on credence by virtue of so many people hearing about it from so many others.

Believe what you will. (You will anyway, with or without my approval.) But we should all stop once in awhile and remind ourselves that much of what we hold dear regarding religion, politics, our schools, the boss or that off-base newspaper reporter derives from what we have heard or accepted based on our beliefs -- with support from our circle of friends, of course.

We hear what we want to hear, interpret what we want from what we read, and associate with people of a like mind. Unfortunately, this makes us all susceptible to the big lie.