Max Depree in his bestselling book, Leadership Is an Art, says that the first job of a leader is to define reality. The last job is to say thank you. In between they serve their people.
Napoleon Bonaparte is quoted as saying that “leaders are dealers in hope.”
Last night’s address on the fifth anniversary of 9/11 , President Bush gave us an excellent demonstration in these two leadership principles.
First, he defined reality. “This struggle has been called a clash of civilizations. In truth, it is a struggle for civilization. We are fighting to maintain the way of life enjoyed by free nations. And we're fighting for the possibility that good and decent people across the
Second, he offered hope. “We look to the day when moms and dads throughout the
Reality and hope go hand in hand. There is the present reality. There is a future hope that things will get better. This is the stuff of leadership.
Yet, many people will disagree with President Bush’s version of reality and the hope he offers. In Canada, a recent poll found that a majority of Canadians think the United States is to blame for the attacks. One out of five Canadians think the attacks were actually carried out covertly by the
A Canadian viewer commenting on the documentary “Loose Change” broadcast on CBC News: last Sunday states,
“How any rational person looking at the physical evidence and having at least a fundamental knowledge of physics can still believe the governments version is quite clearly incapable of seeing reality. I believe completely and without any reservation whatsoever that the
9/11 Conspiracy theories are so prevalent on the internet that the magazine Popular Mechanics has published a book. Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can't Stand Up to the Facts: The Editors of Popular Mechanics, John McCain, David Dunbar, Brad Reagan
Despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary many people continue to believe the conspiracy theories. Why?
People prefer a version of reality that provides a better hope. Branislaw Malinowski, an anthropologist and professional skeptic stated in Magic, Science and Religion and Other Essays. "Science is founded on the conviction that experience, effort, and reason are valid; magic on the belief that hope cannot fail nor desire deceive."
The facts of 9/11 tell a dreadful story. Islamic terrorists hijack airplanes and murder thousands of innocent people. There is little hope in that story.
Bush oversees a secret plot to precipitate a war against
Writer Gore Vidal once said, “It is the spirit of the age to believe that any fact, no matter how suspect, is superior to any imaginative exercise, no matter how true” However, in today’s Postmodern world, facts are not what they used to be. Feelings are the dominant criteria for judging the believability of assertions. If facts do not fit your version of the story then they get jettisoned. If somebody 'feels' an alternative version based on a different set of facts is more hopeful, their spin on the story becomes more believable. Especially if their spin supposedly unmasks the hidden agenda behind the official version of the story. This is what the conspiracy theorist are so good at exploiting – the general cultural suspicions of truth claims.
As Tom Wright states in his audio series Christian Hope in a Postmodern World,
Facts are not important, spin is everything. And every country of every locality can produce examples of this. Reality is no longer divided into facts and values, or truths of reason and truths of science; it’s whatever you make it. You invent it as you go along, choose your value, choose your spin and the story will follow. Too bad if unenlightened readers think you’re simply telling them the facts. So this is one of the main features of post modernity, that reality seems to be in a state of collapse, we don’t know about the world out there, we only know about the inside of our own heads.
So if reality is what ever you make it to be and you want to manipulate people with the hope for a better reality than you can do that in today's world through political spin.
The problem is that people are also suspicious of people who make truth claims. As Wright observes, “All truth claims are made by someone or some group, and all persons and groups have agendas.” These agendas are smoked out by the postmodern skeptics. They are in it for the money, or for the sex or for the power.
As the conspiracy theorist argument goes, George Bush is a person with an agenda. He seeks power to dominate the world. Therefore his assertions about reality and his statements on a future hope are suspect.
The critical eye that is cast towards President Bush is also cast towards the Church. The Church makes assertions about its version of reality. It has a claim to knowing the truth. It has an agenda for converting people. It seeks influence and control in society. Therefore, in the postmodern culture, its claims are suspect until proven.
As my pastor once said, “The Church must hold to a higher standard. It must prove the gospel, by demonstrating it, so it can recommend it with integrity.”
People will follow leaders today who prove there worth by demonstrating their commitment to service. When they recommend their hopes for the future, people have faith in their integrity because they see it being lived out in their lives.
Has President Bush done this? I think he has and I think he deserves our respect and support.
However, the proof of his version of reality and the hopes he proffers awaits the judgment of history. It has only been five years since September 11th, 2001. I would say it is too soon to judge him.
Tags:Bush, Leadership, September 11, Conspiracy.
