Big Buts of the Bible

Election season is upon us once again, class. Which means campaign signs are blooming more abundantly than Florida’s lovebugs.

Every candidate promises lower taxes, better schools, safer streets, cleaner parks, stronger economies, happier puppies, and, if elected, perhaps even fewer telemarketers.

Permit your old professor a brief grammar lesson.

One of history’s most famous buts came from President Ronald Reagan. Borrowing an old Russian proverb during nuclear arms negotiations with the Soviet Union, Reagan often said:

“Trust, but verify.”

Marvelous use of a conjunction. 

Notice what but accomplishes. It doesn’t destroy trust. It strengthens it.

Trust is good. Blind trust… not so much.

The little word but quietly reminds us that confidence and careful examination can happily coexist.

That wisdom extends far beyond international diplomacy. Employers trust their accountants… but they still reconcile the books. Pilots trust their instruments… but they still perform pre-flight checks.

Parents trust their teenagers… but they occasionally ask, “Where are you headed?” and “What time will you be home?” (Humor your old professor. Parents have been asking those questions since Noah’s boys borrowed the ark.)

Voting works much the same way.

One of the greatest privileges of living in a free society is that we don’t simply inherit our leaders—we help choose them. That privilege deserves more than campaign slogans, thirty-second commercials, or social media memes. It deserves homework.

Read.

Listen.

Ask questions.

Compare.

Verify.

Don’t assume that every quote floating around the internet is accurate. Don’t assume every campaign advertisement tells the whole story. Don’t assume your favorite news source—or your least favorite one—has nothing left to teach you.

Do your due diligence.

Why? Because good citizens care enough to become informed citizens. 

As Dr. Buttersworth has reminded you before, every remarkable but prompts the same question:

What changed?

In this case, but changes trust into thoughtful trust. And thoughtful trust is almost always wiser than blind trust.

Now then… Class dismissed. You’ve got a little research to do before Election Day.