Wallis article full of distortions
Guest Column
By: Madison McClendon
Issue date: 3/24/06 Section: Opinions
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"Lies, damned lies and statistics." These three types of falsehoods, categorized by Benjamin Disraeli, can all be found in the recent editorial, "CLPs need to be balanced out."
The guest writer, Christopher Mills, wrote that Jim Wallis wants us to lose the war in Iraq-this is a lie. Mills also denied the preferential option for the poor contained within the pages of scripture-a damned lie. Finally, Mills ignored the lives of millions of people worldwide and expressed favoritism for American lives above all others-statistics. These three types of lies must be refuted.
The first statement Mills made is patently false. He stated that Wallis desired the United States to lose the Iraq War. Such a statement reads far more into Wallis's speech than was there. While Wallis did not support the war, nothing in his public remarks at Furman University or elsewhere indicated his desire for the U.S. to lose.
The quotation Mills used to illustrate his point was intentionally edited. The inclusion of an ellipsis between the words "won't" and "prevail" should alert any reader to the mendacity of the quoted words. The full text in Wallis's book deals with the eloquence of the Magnificat of Mary, found in Luke's gospel. Instead of expressing the desire to lose the war, Wallis wrote that the attempt to oppress others into a forced peace will fail.
As Mary states, "God has scattered the proud and arrogant of heart." Changing a direct quotation to make it say what one wants it to say is unprofessional and dishonest. If I wanted, I could do the same. For example, Revelation 21:8 states, "...Liars...[go to hell.]"
The second argument Mills made is also lacking in intellectual honesty. He accused Wallis of selectively citing Bible verses to prove a point, rather than exploring the whole realm of scripture for authority. Wallis can be forgiven for not citing specific scripture. When one has over 2,000 verses in the Bible that deal with helping the poor, it can become repetitive to cite them all. If Jim Wallis had begun, we would still be at the lecture.
The guest writer, Christopher Mills, wrote that Jim Wallis wants us to lose the war in Iraq-this is a lie. Mills also denied the preferential option for the poor contained within the pages of scripture-a damned lie. Finally, Mills ignored the lives of millions of people worldwide and expressed favoritism for American lives above all others-statistics. These three types of lies must be refuted.
The first statement Mills made is patently false. He stated that Wallis desired the United States to lose the Iraq War. Such a statement reads far more into Wallis's speech than was there. While Wallis did not support the war, nothing in his public remarks at Furman University or elsewhere indicated his desire for the U.S. to lose.
The quotation Mills used to illustrate his point was intentionally edited. The inclusion of an ellipsis between the words "won't" and "prevail" should alert any reader to the mendacity of the quoted words. The full text in Wallis's book deals with the eloquence of the Magnificat of Mary, found in Luke's gospel. Instead of expressing the desire to lose the war, Wallis wrote that the attempt to oppress others into a forced peace will fail.
As Mary states, "God has scattered the proud and arrogant of heart." Changing a direct quotation to make it say what one wants it to say is unprofessional and dishonest. If I wanted, I could do the same. For example, Revelation 21:8 states, "...Liars...[go to hell.]"
The second argument Mills made is also lacking in intellectual honesty. He accused Wallis of selectively citing Bible verses to prove a point, rather than exploring the whole realm of scripture for authority. Wallis can be forgiven for not citing specific scripture. When one has over 2,000 verses in the Bible that deal with helping the poor, it can become repetitive to cite them all. If Jim Wallis had begun, we would still be at the lecture.