Suspicion

There is a growing culture of suspicion in this postmodern age we have dropped into like aliens from space. Question everything with the presupposition that nothing is as it seems is the philosophy of the day. A primarily suspicious culture is rooted in the belief that we are fed lies and grows from the rush of discerning the facade and connecting the dots.

Paul Ricoeur was a French philosopher that coined the term hermeneutic of suspicion. He died in 2005.

The expression “hermeneutic of suspicion” basically means that words may not always mean what they seem to. To be inherently suspicious has some value in avoiding deception and identifying deception. But suspicion is easily misused and over emphasized. Devolving into a subliminal approach to life, it actually leads to the things we want to avoid, namely falsehood and grifters. But if we insist on seeing through everything, we end up seeing nothing.

Illogically, we apply suspicion unevenly. Some things we believe with little or no evidence because of biases and preconditioning, and other obvious things are held to an impossible standard of proof. We should be equally suspicious of everything including the suspicion itself. This is called humility.

Humility is the mark of a wise man. When we embrace the truth that we do not know everything, and that there is much we will never know, our understanding will be much closer to truth than if we are just perpetually suspicious. Also, we must realize that the world is discoverable, and that truth can be known and conveyed through words. Because we cannot know everything does not preclude us from knowing something.

In his book “Talking to Strangers,” Malcolm Gladwell writes about the dilemma of relating to someone you don’t know and how to function when two people don’t have shared history. How will we pick out the bad guy and avoid deception by thieves? His conclusion is that we can’t know, and the cost of being perpetually suspicious is too high. A person who is always looking for the hidden pattern might pick up real deception occasionally but will often be caught in delusional paranoia and will most likely resort to holing up with a shotgun. The cost is too high. It is better to adopt the biblical values of assuming the best, giving the benefit of the doubt, and assuming innocence until proven guilty even if that means missing the occasional con man.

Heterodoxy is anything that contradicts or contrasts established beliefs and systems. Counter cultural, anti-establishment thinking is necessary at times and is an inescapable component of responsible logic, but like most things, it can be taken too far, and when iconoclasm is modo operandi, the result is a tightening spiral of illogical suspicion and paranoia leading to serious dysfunction.

Responsible heterodoxy applies suspicion consistently, adhering to principles of logic and seeking wisdom. Unhealthy suspicion tends to devolve into paranoia in some areas and blind spots in others, resulting in a disastrous stew of suspicion and gullibility that affects every aspect of life.

Wesley Morgan lived in Kentucky. As a conservative, he was very alarmed about societal upheaval during the Obama years. This tide of socialism sweeping the country would lead to a general collapse followed by anarchy. In 2009, he started working on a 14,000-square-foot mansion built over a large concrete bunker, complete with escape tunnels. He bought riot gear, bullet-proof vests, and an arsenal of firearms to protect his family when the world fell apart.

Some years later, the political winds shifted, and Morgan became disgusted and disillusioned with Kentucky; so, he advertised his home on Zillow. A $6.5 million mansion, with the bunker featured prominently. A few months later. he woke in the night to the terror of breaking glass and gunshots. His daughter was killed, and he was injured before the intruder disappeared. When the police caught up with the perpetrator, they discovered a delusional paranoid young man who had attempted to secure the bunker for himself and his friends.

“They dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves. The trouble they make for others backfires on them. The violence they plan falls on their own heads” (Psalm 7:15). In this case, the Scripture proved true.

A hermeneutic of faith and beauty instead of hermeneutic of suspicion will have more positive direction. If my underlying approach and philosophy is to look for the beautiful patterns and to have faith in thinking the best of others, I will be happier and will do a lot more good on earth. This phrase caught my attention recently: “Suspicion is ultimately parasitic to beauty.” There is no place this truth is more salient than in the Body of Christ. Balancing suspicion with trust and beauty and cultivating responsible heterodoxy results in stable humans who correctly discern truth from foolishness, who are immune to the allure of “seeing the hidden meaning in everything,” and most importantly, who make good friends.