There is a quote from Wendell Berry that has been bouncing around in my head for a few days:

“Some things you just raise hell about and hope somebody smarter than you can fix it.”

I am not, in general, the kind of person who raises hell about things. In fact, I’m not the kind of person who uses that kind of language in my everyday speech. And my problem as I think of the quote is that I have no idea to whom I might complain or how I might raise hell. But there are some things in this world that I certainly hope that somebody smarter than I can fix. The quote almost sounds like raising hell might be part of the solution to intractable problems. If so, I wonder if I am somehow being remiss by not raising hell. It is a kind of thought loop for which I have not found a solution.

One of the things that I hope somebody smarter than I could fix are situations when large numbers of people persist in believing something despite a lack of evidence to support their belief. Two examples come to mind.

There are a lot of people in the United States who apparently believe that the results of the 2020 presidential election are invalid. They continue to believe that their candidate should have become President. The candidate is encouraging that belief. He refused to concede defeat and engaged in all kinds of efforts to have the results overturned. In each lawsuit filed, however, the courts have found no evidence that the claim is true. Despite having a large number of people who voted for that candidate, the other candidate not only won the popular vote, as was the case in the previous election as well, but also the electoral college vote - the vote that matters in US presidential elections. In fact, the candidate, along with a group of his supporters have been indicted on felony charges of attempting to win by cheating and manipulating the vote.

To be fair an indictment is not a conviction. In our system a person is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. On the other hand, several of those indicted have pled guilty to the charges. Time will tell how that trial will go, but there is certainly plenty of evidence being given to dispute the false claims of electoral victory and so far, no credible evidence has been given to support those claims.

There are, however, a lot of people who believe those claims. And those people are not stupid, or uniformed, or evil. Somehow they persist in their belief without anything that seems to me to be credible evidence. I wish that the truth could prevail. But I do not know how to have the truth presented in a way that will change all of those minds. I certainly wish someone smarter than I could fix it, but I have no idea of how to raise hell in these circumstances.

Here is another example. The majority of people in the Arab Middle East and a whole lot of people in other parts of the world persist in believing that the explosion in a parking area of al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City on October 17 was caused by an Israeli Air Strike. The huge tragedy and high death toll has horrified people all around the world. Initially, news outlets published information that seemed to point the figure on the Israeli Defense Forces, but the evidence points elsewhere. Credible news sources around the world have failed to present evidence that the blast was caused by Israel. The New York Times has admitted that its initial coverage of the blast was wrong and that it was incorrect for the reporters to rely on claims by Hamas. Israel has presented credible evidence that the attack did not come from their forces. Those who point the finger at Israel have not presented any evidence. Yet millions of people around the world continue to believe what certainly appears to be false.

I am not a military strategist. I am not a political figure. I have no idea of what might be said or done to bring the truth to the light. I don’t know how to get millions of people to change their minds or at least open their minds to the possibility that what they believe might not be the truth. I hope that somebody smarter than I would help change minds. I suppose that the editors and owners of the New York Times are smarter than I and that it was important for them to publicly admit the error of their early reporting, but that doesn’t seem to be enough. Writing letters to the editor seems to bring no chance that millions, many of whom do not read the New York Times and don’t speak the language in which the Times is written, to open themselves to the possibility that what they believe is false. I have no idea how to raise hell to get someone smarter than I to come up with a solution.

I first noted the Wendell Berry quote because it seemed hopeful in the context in which I first read it. It seemed to imply that even when one is not smart enough to envision the solution to a problem, one might take action - raise hell - in such a way that those who are smart enough to solve the problem would be motivated to do so. Too often, however, it seems to me that I feel powerless to do anything. I guess that I might consider raising hell if I knew how to do so but I find myself wishing that someone smarter than I would tell me how do even that.

Despite having kept Wendell Berry’s quote on my mind and having mentioned it in my journal, I doubt that it will be the inspiration I need to go forward. I find myself again turning to other sources. The laments of Biblical poets come to my mind. I lift my eyes to the hills in search of the source of the help of the people and I pray that now as in the past that God will neither slumber nor sleep in the face of human tragedy.