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| President Donald J. Trump's Tweet |
One of these explanations is of Luther's distaste for the practice of indulgences, or the idea that one can buy salvation, guarenteeing an eternal life outside of purgatory. In this explanation, Luther takes the stance that this "heretical, wicked, and blasphemous" idea is not the fault of the preachers and clergymen, but the fault of the congregations "for having wax in their ears that they hear only pernicious things when these preachers tell them salutary things".
As I was first reading this through, I thought how admirable Luther was. How gracious he is in giving the benefit of the doubt to the preachers. I began to wonder why the Catholic Church was so upset with him for presenting his ideas to the public. It seemed to me that he was striving to purify the saints rather than call the Church to repentance.
Continuing on, however, his words against the people seemed too extravagant, the blame on them too outrageous, the claims that they were wickedly misunderstanding the preachers too unbelievable. Luther was roasting the Clergy. He had even had me going along with it for a minute.
This shows an intriguing side to the development of the printing press. Satire surely wasn't a new idea, but this was different. The speed of the spread made this so much more enraging to the Catholic leadership. The ease of attainment made it more of a threat.
I think this issue is as true today as it was then. Hearing the President of the United States say something bitter about a rival over the radio many years ago is entirely different than reading Trump's virtually constant Twitter rages. The world continues to struggle with this concept. Increased availability increases the threat level. The ease of spread makes this form of banter faster, and therefore more productive (or destructive).
I'm not sure what conclusion to draw about the groups taking the heat from these media gurus, but I know that the terrain will continue to get rougher as new forms of communication continue to develop.
Image Credit: Creative Commons, Wikipedia, Public Domain
Interesting comparison. I wonder if the Catholic leadership who didn’t side with Luther ever saw the validity of many of his claims but simply refused to acknowledge any good because they would lose money? I also wonder how many people instantly demoralize everything that Trump says simply because it’s he who is saying it?
ReplyDeleteYour comparison between the printed theses and twitter posts is great because in both time periods, it's one of the fastest and most efficient modes of communication for the public to see. Rapid communication, as you mentioned, can be used for booth good and bad depending on who is doing the communicating. Your statement of "Increased availability increases the threat level" is very true in our day. Whether the thing is good or not, its prominence will cause threat to someones agenda.
ReplyDeleteThe 95 thesis is an important example why free speech is so important. While Martin Luther was the one who formulated and articulated the ideas given, the ideas behind the thesis were already prevalent among the people, they just weren't articulated. The articulation of them provided a pathway for people to realize the truths they inherently knew, and then act on them.
ReplyDeleteThis comparison is great because it is so applicable. Both of these people are leaders who we can see use a new form of technology to their advantage while trying to spread their thoughts and opinions far and wide.
ReplyDeleteI think this comparison is good, though admittedly lacking in some respects. The 95 Theses may have been heated in ways that are comparable to President Trump's tweets, but tweets are arguably more compulsive with how quickly they can be typed and sent, whereas the 95 Theses, even if written in an emotionally driven way, would've taken much longer and required more thought.
ReplyDeleteI saw a meme the other day that popped back into my head as I was reading your post. It was one of those famous pictures of George Washington with the words "It's only treason if you lose!" above it. I wonder how many times people like Martin Luther have lost and history has taken their "95 Thesis" and turned them into something akin to some Twitter rage.
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