Does Donald Trump believe the Big Lie? How can we know? A lie repeated often enough becomes the truth for the liar. If there is a devil, the compulsive liar is his spokesperson, because truth cannot gain a foothold in the brain of a compulsive liar. Lying has taken control of the mind and the message. Debating is hopeless.
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44
This quotation of Jesus is among the most emotional in the New Testament, the most angry, the most accusatory. It was not in Jesus’ nature to accuse, but against falsehood, he could not hold back. Lies were the most treacherous poison in the teachings of the religious leaders, because they came in the disguise of spiritual authority. As Jesus and his followers had learned by now, you don’t argue religion.
What made Jesus so volatile against the Pharisees was how they captured religious ears. He accused them of being children of the Devil, the personification of lies. He also said the Devil was a murderer. This would bring his audience back to the slaughter of Abel by Cain.
The first thing Cain said when confronted with his brother’s murder was “Am I my brother’s keeper?” thinking ignorance of the law would be his defense. God replied, “The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the field,” meaning there must be consequences to murder, lies notwithstanding. A lie can not circumvent the facts. Blood must have punishment. No argument. Case closed. That is how Jesus dealt with liars.
What matters to liars and advocates for liars is authority. People are convinced by the authority of the liar (ethos), more than the reasoning (logos). That attitude makes the voice of reason begin to shout and seem all the more questionable (pathos). We expect the voice of reason to be calm and collected, but it is hard to be collected against a voice that says, “It’s true, because I say it is.”
So how are we to respond? First, as we have already responded, insisting that the election was won fairly, as 61 lawsuits have affirmed (logos).
The president and his allies filed 62 lawsuits in state and federal courts seeking to overturn election results in states the president lost, according to Marc Elias, a Democratic election lawyer who is tracking the outcomes.
Out of the 62 lawsuits filed challenging the presidential election, 61 have failed, according to Elias. https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/politics/elections/2021/01/06/trumps-failed-efforts-overturn-election-numbers/4130307001/
Second, by responding with authority (ethos), rather than reason. Quote the most respected voices in support of the truth. Those who are inclined to agree with the ex-President are impressed more by authority than by logic. We waste our time laboring over the reasons President Trump might have repeatedly lied. Present the best known opponents of the Big Lie. Quote what they say.
Third, by keeping our indignation (pathos) under control. Jesus was indignant for sure, but Jesus was not wooing votes. We might be more effective if we did not take the Big Lie personally and just stood up to it. It is a lie and poisonous to democracy, but it is not a personal affront. Keep your cool.
Fourth by pointing out just that: the Big Lie is poisonous to democracy (logos). If we cannot accept the results of an election, we destroy the basic institution of democracy. It is clear if President Trump runs again and loses he will contest that election on the grounds that he cannot lose. That would make him a loser. That can’t happen, therefore democracy be damned. It is more than an election that is contested, but the basis for democracy, that the winner is the chosen one. The ex-President has it backwards: he claims he is the chosen one and therefore the winner of the election.
If we are concerned with preserving democracy that is our most consequential argument: the Big Lie undermines the institution of democracy. If a supporter of the Big Lie does not accept that, we are out of ammunition. If God or the Republican Party has chosen the winner, we cannot argue that democracy can overrule that choice. Democracy has already been trashed, if the advocate of the Lie does not care about the outcome of voting.
As Jesus said about the Devil, “When he lies he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” You don’t answer a lie with arguments, but with the truth. Jesus had that right. He taught with parables and provocative questions, but if he was answered with lies, then he just identified them and stood back. You cannot argue with a liar.
Whether the Devil is a living being or not, there is extraordinary power in a relentless lie. Its resilience suggests an actual “Father of Lies,” a living force, which no argument can take down. A liar has to agree to some version of the truth, or he is intractable. Our ultimate truth is that the one with the most votes is the victor. Without that we have only our own relentless authoritative claim that the outcome of fair elections matter.