Jim Wallis is seeing things, or is Jim Wallis just being appeared to?

He exclaims : “I see lies being told, I see fears being raised, and I see violence even being threatened at these mob sessions.” He is, of course, talking about the many ordinary American citizens who had the temerity to “speak truth to power” at recent Townhall Meetings hosted by assorted members of Congress over the past couple of weeks.

Also, why the passive voice? The Rev. Wallis saw “lies being told,” but did he see people telling lies? He saw “fears being raised,” but did he see people raising fears? He saw “violence being threatened,” but he did see people threatening violence? At some point, the Rev. Wallis should assert what he thinks and believes rather using language that allows him to accuse without making accusations.

Or perhaps he didn’t see anything. Perhaps he was just being appeared to.

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

The Revival of Patristics

Stephen O. Presley

On May 25, 1990, the renowned patristics scholar Charles Kannengiesser, S.J., delivered a lecture at the annual…

The Enduring Legacy of the Spanish Mystics

Itxu Díaz

Last autumn, I spent a few days at my family’s coastal country house in northwestern Spain. The…

The trouble with blogging …

Joseph Bottum

The trouble with blogging, RJN, is narrative structure. Or maybe voice. Or maybe diction. Or maybe syntax.…