Gellman: Resisting the Seduction of Eloquence | Newsweek Voices - Rabbi Marc Gellman

The Spiritual Seductions of Eloquence

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Later, after his first of many failures to convince the people that the insecurity of freedom was superior to the security of slavery, he again appeals to God to let him off the hook because of his disability.

"And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips? (Exodus 6:12)

In Hebrew, the phrase translated as "uncircumcised lips" is aral sfataim. It is not clear what this means; he may have had a cleft palate or perhaps he was a stutterer. Whatever the nature of his disability, two things stand out: 1.) Moses was not an eloquent speaker, and 2.) God chose him anyway.

Because eloquence is seductive does not mean eloquence is always misleading. Sometimes, as with Lincoln and Churchill, FDR and the Kennedys and King, we see leadership and eloquence perfectly and powerfully conjoined. However, there were also great leaders like Truman and Eisenhower who led brilliantly without the asset of a golden tongue. And there was Moses, who probably would not have polled well. He had imperfect lips attached to a perfect heart. Unfortunately Moses is not on the ballot this year.

Just remember that in making your choice about the presidency or about who to date or what car to buy or which infomercial will convince you to surrender your credit-card number, that you might want to first reflect on just how easy it is for a slick talker to convince you to do something just because he or she speaks really well.

Thus fortified against the seductions of eloquence, you can enjoy their patter, smile and say to yourself, "No thanks. I already have a knife to slice my tomatoes."

And then you can get on with the sober and quiet thinking that alone will keep democracy alive.

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Since when is being educated, informed, and well-spoken something we don't want in a leader? Oh, I know. When that leader is Black. If we followed the logic of this article, then Americans should have ignored Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights legislation that he advocated. Gellman would have describe Martin Luther King as just another Black man who knows how to talk pretty, but shouldn't be trusted or heeded. Gellman thinks the American people are so stupid that we can't tell the difference between eloquence and action. What he won't admit is that this is just another attack on Obama.

This thinly veiled attack on Obama is disgustingly anti-intellectual and indirectly racist. This actually invokes very long-standing stereotypes about African Americans: that they have a strong oral tradition and know how to inspire by turning a phrase, but they cannot be trusted with responsibility and power.

We've had 8 years of a president who couldn't complete a grammatically correct sentence. Gellman's logic is that this made Bush trustworthy. Guess what, Gellman, people can be eloquent AND tell the truth AND be black, all at the same time. Also, as Bush has proven people can speak poorly AND lie. But like most republicans, Gellman doesn't want us to look at the current administration while making our vote. Gellman is using his own limited eloquence to demean Obama and to insult the intelligence of people who will vote for him. I hope he fails.

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Posted By: nomolos @ 09/21/2008 6:17:16 PM

I believe in the separation of shul and state and you have violated that precious principle. You exposed your Republican bias by exalting the shallow Sarah and tacitly demeaning Barcak. As a Jew in his 86th year I have listened to and read the written word of many rabbis, enough to discern the sincere and the mercenary.
The former are in the majority but a few are not.
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Posted By: nomolos @ 09/21/2008 6:07:22 PM

I believe in the separation of shul and state, and you have violated that ptinciple.
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Posted By: PhDiva @ 09/06/2008 2:23:58 PM

Since when is being educated, informed, and well-spoken something we don't want in a leader? Oh, I know. When that leader is Black. If we followed the logic of this article, then Americans should have ignored Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights legislation that he advocated. Gellman would have describe Martin Luther King as just another Black man who knows how to talk pretty, but shouldn't be trusted or heeded. Gellman thinks the American people are so stupid that we can't tell the difference between eloquence and action. What he won't admit is that this is just another attack on Obama.

This thinly veiled attack on Obama is disgustingly anti-intellectual and indirectly racist. This actually invokes very long-standing stereotypes about African Americans: that they have a strong oral tradition and know how to inspire by turning a phrase, but they cannot be trusted with responsibility and power.

We've had 8 years of a president who couldn't complete a grammatically correct sentence. Gellman's logic is that this made Bush trustworthy. Guess what, Gellman, people can be eloquent AND tell the truth AND be black, all at the same time. Also, as Bush has proven people can speak poorly AND lie. But like most republicans, Gellman doesn't want us to look at the current administration while making our vote. Gellman is using his own limited eloquence to demean Obama and to insult the intelligence of people who will vote for him. I hope he fails.