With Whataboutism every protest is really a riot, or visa versa
How you think about the current protests says more about your tribal affiliation than it does about your personal or ethical world view.
Everybody I know thinks they are right. And this checks out, because nobody walks through life wanting to be wrong. But the very sad thing is that most of us are wrong about so many things.
What is worse, is when we are wrong about things and not willing to examine our beliefs or our behaviors. This rapidly moves us into the camp of self-righteous ignoramuses. I often fear that instead of observing this group of people through my objective and logical lens, I might actually be the mayor of the ignoramuses.
This happens most in our political dialogue. We think we are open minded, driven by logic and high morals, but in reality we are base tribal people who will excuse almost any offense from our tribe while vehemently condemning the abuses of those not in our tribe.
Something that is in the news today is protesting. People love to protest their causes, and belittle and condemn the protests they disagree with. Let’s have a little thought experiment:
Do you frame the following protests as protests, riots, or tyranny?
Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.
164 people arrested for disrupting and postponing the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court?
The pro Palestinian / anti-Israel protests and encampments around college campuses.
January 6th protest of the 2020 election results.
These are the most visceral protests that come to mind. But it is interesting that everyone I talk to puts their political priors or their tribal affiliation as the main lens to view these protests. And depending on if they are your tribe or not, depends on the lens you will hedge them. On one hand they may be a disgruntled minority trying to get their voices heard, or if they may be a violent anarchist or communist mob set on destroying the culture.
There is an uncomfortable reality that your opinion is totally jaded and you are way more tribal than you know. When it is your team that is protesting, they are protesting a noble cause with a minority of rabble rousers who are causing trouble and giving everyone a bad name. When it is the other team protesting, every single person present is defined by the worst actions of the few, they just didn’t have the guts or opportunity to put their deranged ideas into action.
Because we are so tribal, we can no longer have conversation or even debate. We have a way we see the world and we demand mercy for me and justice for thee. What came first, the chicken or the egg? How far back into history do you need to go to defend your position. Which colonial powers were good and which were bad?
Who is at fault for the attack on Israel on October 7th? Is the response to October 7th by Israel justified?
Whataboutism frees the debater up to not have to answer the hard questions. If you blame Hamas for the attack, then you no longer have to think about or defend how the retribution is taken out. Or you easily dehumanize your enemy and put it in the camp that they deserve it. You protest Hamas attacking Israel on October 7th, and when pro-Israeli people ask you to condemn Hamas, you turn to Whataboutism and point to the horrific way Israel has been treating the Palestinians.
(Have you noticed no pro Palestinian groups are willing to condemn that attack or is advocating for returning hostages.)
With Whataboutism your side is naturally justified and you don’t have to consider how you might be in the wrong. And anyone who points it out, you get to hit the rhetorical “Get out of jail free” card by declaring that you are simply doing Whataboutism.
Whataboutism is a strong tool to deflect criticism by accusing the critic of similar or worse conduct, and then never having to take inventory of your own position.
I know I put my own tribal affiliation on the table with this post. And while I do, of course, have a specific perspective that shapes most of my thoughts and ethics, I do not want to be bound by my tribal affiliation. Especially if that tribal affiliation is a political party.
I do want my worldview and ethics to be shaped by my tribal affiliation to Jesus and his church. I want to call a spade a spade. I don’t want to defend the institution agains blatant wrongdoing. I want to own when my side screws up and practice confession for me and mercy toward others. I want to understand people who see the world differently and recognize that they are full complex humans made in the image of God. And most people are not the caricatures we see on our social media, but are just as complex, just as confused, and have just as much anxiety about the future as you and I do.
When your side goes too far, engages is destruction of property, breaking laws and trespassing, chanting racist and dehumanizing things, physically assaulting others, or any number of other things, it is ok to call that out. In fact we have to. The ends never justify the means. That is the slippery slope to every authoritative or tyrannical take over. The means is all we have. Especially as Christians.
May our tribe live into our true calling.
This calling is not to be truth tellers to power or to be self-righteous agitators giving cover to abuses, but rather it is to be ambassadors or reconciliation. May we embrace mercy and extend that to others, especially those people from other tribes.