“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”
—Matthew 5:33-37
“[A] wise lord cannot, nor ought he to, keep faith when such observance may be turned against him, and when the reasons that caused him to pledge it exist no longer. If men were entirely good this precept would not hold, but because they are bad, and will not keep faith with you, you too are not bound to observe it with them. …
But it is necessary to know well how to disguise this characteristic, and to be a great pretender and dissembler; and men are so simple, and so subject to present necessities, that he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived.”
—Niccolò Machiavelli
I can still hear it in his voice.
Dan Morris, my former colleague and mentor, would say the phrase often while discussing Alabama politics on his radio show – “Let our ‘yeses’ be ‘yeses’ and our ‘nos’ be ‘nos.’”
I’m not sure if Dan was alluding to the Gospel of Matthew or the Epistle of James, maybe both, but I will always remember him repeating this biblical exhortation for integrity in one’s speech – and often in the midst of his repeated frustrations with the “low-grade ore” (as Dan would call them) elected to the Alabama Legislature.
Since my work with Dan ended, I have watched politics for several seasons, and I now share his frustrations more than ever. Politicians, especially in Alabama, could always be smarter, better, faster, or stronger, but I suspect even political leaders made of the highest-grade ore would only ever be as truthful as political necessity allowed.
Something about the political game betrays all who play it, whereby a political player’s most sincere “yes” is never quite a “yes” nor his most hardened “no” ever quite a “no.” A politician’s oaths are always subject to change. In politics, the issue is never the issue – beyond the “yeses” and “nos” of individual politicians, the issues of the day almost always bend the knee to political necessity born of a practical contest of wicked wills.
For example, take the issue of gambling in Alabama.
If the issue were the issue, one could easily imagine Alabama’s elected representatives logically and faithfully hashing out an optimal legal scheme to bring gambling to the state without fear or favor to any particular interest. One could also imagine their good-faith debates publicly displayed so that the people would be as informed as possible on the issue.
But the issue isn’t the issue.
Rather, the political game around gambling in this state is basically a question of whose particular interest is feared or favored the most. It’s not what you know, but who you know, who you owe, and which arms you can twist to bend narrow into common interest.
If you think the “yeses” and “nos” of most political votes in Alabama or anywhere else are about the apparent issues at hand, you have been deceived — and may have even welcomed the deception despite your frustrations.
Politics is not a debate society, neither a contest of logic nor the application of sound religious or philosophical principles. Politics is where logical fallacies become rhetorical truths and where men rise above principle, else they fall on the sword of their principles.
Politics is where men lie about lying because they suspect the other guy is lying too; where men deceive in service of those who want to be deceived, including themselves.
Why? Because the oaths men take, they are often swift to break. Because men are sinful and bad. No matter how noble the issue or worthy the cause, politics cannot change man’s nature nor take away his proclivity to wickedness. No kingdom on earth could ever do such a thing, no matter its oaths.
If we wish for our “yeses” to be “yeses” and our “nos” to be “nos,” we should stop looking with frustration to broken political oaths and simply say our words, day by day, without fear or favor to any earthly necessity, but only to an Authority whose kingdom is in Heaven.
Joey Clark is a native Alabamian and is currently the host of the radio program News and Views on News Talk 93.1 FM WACV out of Montgomery, AL M-F 12 p.m. – 3 p.m. His column appears every Tuesday in 1819 News. To contact Joey for media or speaking appearances as well as any feedback, please email joeyclarklive@gmail.com. Follow him on X @TheJoeyClark or watch the radio show livestream.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
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