This American Moment; Black Lives, Power Politics, and the Unborn

John Piper

. . . "The primary lesson that I draw from this history for America at this moment is the reality, the preciousness, and the power of truth in the public square. When I say America at this moment, I am thinking of 1) the killing by police of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minnesota, 2) the sniper killing of five police in Dallas, 3) the FBI non-indictment of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after her repeated, FBI-acknowledged falsehoods and “extremely careless” handling of classified material, and 4) the continued defense by national leaders of the legitimacy of killing children in their mother’s wombs.

"The events underline the vital necessity of embracing the reality, preciousness, and power of truth in the public square at this moment. Let’s take them in reverse order — power, preciousness, then reality.

The Power of Truth

"The fact that most people carry cameras now — in their smartphones — has made the killing of black men by the police a matter of powerful truth. Of course videos can lie. They are only part of the story, often limited to a short clip of the end of a larger event, offering us only one angle. But they also deliver truth, undeniable truth. Whatever stories and rationales for these killings are brought forward, they will have to square with the visual truths of these videos." . . .

Piper concludes with these words:

These advocates for freedom from truth cover their evisceration of truth-claims by crying out against the oppression of the poor and weak. But in nullifying truth, they strip the poor and weak of the one great weapon they still have: the truth that there is such a thing as justice, and this is not it. Truth is a mighty weapon in the hand of the weak. The powerful have been playing academic word games for seventy years with deadly fallout.