T is for Total

Of the five points of Calvinism that form the famous acronym T.U.L.I.P., my favorite is the first.  “T” is the least challenging of Calvin’s fivefold response to the Arminian saboteurs of the late 16^th century.  It is the easiest to demonstrate scientifically.  T.U.L.I.P. is not the whole of Calvinism, nor of the Reformed faith.  But the acronym makes a useful mnemonic for remembering Calvin’s principle arguments against the followers of Arminius, also known as the Remonstrants

T is for Total Depravity, that is, of the human race, a condition wrought by our original parents millennia ago, and carried forward by every generation since.  Over the next decade scientists will likely unravel that section of the human chromosome that codes for pervasive and primordial evil, for original sin.  Or they may locate its center somewhere in the labyrinth of human brain tissue, perhaps in the hippocampus, deep inside the medial temporal lobe.  This is where memories are formed—and later denied, repurposed, or lost by our diminished souls.

T is for no damned good.

The most recent and compelling evidence of Total Depravity, if such were needed, is surely the daily report of sexual misconduct and abuse among our leaders in government, media, the entertainment industry and elsewhere.  Every week, women continue to come forward, reporting incidents of abuse, exploitation, and violence that began years, even decades ago.  Insofar as the allegations are true, the mostly male perpetrators must be held accountable and receive justice for their acts.  This is unfolding now in headlines about famous men who have resigned or been fired in disgrace.  A few face criminal prosecution. 

However, is it too impolitic to wonder why women—especially those pursuing careers in Hollywood—were surprised or shocked by any of this sordid behavior, or did not report it sooner? Several of them acknowledged remaining silent or accepting payments for their silence in order to further their careers, in entertainment as well as business and politics.  By doing so, they lent their support to a corrupt system of oppression and exploitation.  

Like the rest of us, the women involved in these particular scandals were victims, but also willing opportunists.  In the case of Judge Moore, it is especially poignant, if unedifying, that the principle accuser conspired with her high profile attorney to alter “evidence” in advance of a high stakes election in Alabama. This double-heartedness, this mixing of motives, of which some are just and some unsavory, is at the core of total depravity, our sin-ridden incapacity to do the right thing for the right reasons.  This is what makes the structural evil now revealed in our institutions such an equal opportunity employer.  

But for the grace of God, men, women, and everyone in between are deserving of eternal damnation.  As the shameful behavior of our leaders in politics, business, entertainment—and the church—comes to light, is it too much to hope there might now be a desire for repentance, reformation, revival?

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“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.  Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.”  (Psalm 51: 3-4)