Rabble Rousing...

 

Rabble Rousing…

 

Numbers 11:4-6, 10-14
11:4 The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, and said, "If only we had meat to eat!

11:5 We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;

11:6 but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at."

11:10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the LORD became very angry, and Moses was displeased.

11:11 So Moses said to the LORD, "Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me?

11:12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child,' to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors?

11:13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, 'Give us meat to eat!'

11:14 I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me.

 

 

According to the Oxford dictionary, rabble is: “a disorderly crowd; a mob; ordinary people, especially when regarded as socially inferior or uncouth.” 

 

Obviously, the first thing we learn from this portion of this weekend’s lectionary text is that rabble has been around for a long, long time. In this case, where the Numbers passage is putting some “flesh” (sorry) on the story of God taking care of Israel in the wilderness, the rabble are griping that the manna isn’t enough, and they basically start to scream at Moses, “Where’s the BEEF?”

 

No matter how you parse it, rabble is a derogatory term, even as we see from the definition supplied by the Oxford people. One would not describe one’s family as rabble unless you are fighting with them, or using hyperbole as a joke. The same would be true for using the term on one’s collection of friends. 

 

There are many other terms that get applied to any group of ne’er-do-wells: hoi polloi (a Greek term literally meaning “the many,” but one that took on a more negative connotation in English); gang; pack; or more specifically in our day, Proud Boys; Boogaloo; Ku Klux Klan; or Q-Anon. All of them have a beef, of some sort, and as they say, “It ain’t good.” 

 

So, as we see, “rabble-rousing” is not a new concept. Truth be told, we are probably ALLrabble-rousers, at some point, if we understand the term as a verb. We may rabble-rouse when we show up at a town council meeting to protest a proposed ordinance, or even when we campaign passionately for a given political candidate because we vehemently oppose the views of her/his opponent, or the incumbent the candidate they are seeking to unseat. 

 

The negative slant comes in, I believe, when the aims of the “rabble” are self-centered: seeking to get something that exclusively benefits their group; seeking to acquire for themselves a measure of superior power or wealth; or they just want to superimpose their views, desires, or policies over the entire rest of the populace. Sometimes the genesis of a rabble-rousing group may be altruistic—they may actually believe they speak for the majority, and are convinced that their cause is “righteous.” Unfortunately, this view is too often distorted or just plain wrong. 

 

Look at what is happening regarding the January 6 “insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol. The rabble-rousers who committed that atrocity believed they represented a majority of the American people, when a constitutionally sanctioned, legitimate election proved they did not. And now other rabble-rousers are seeking to “wash” this fiasco of its terroristic and traitorous stain. 

 

Victorian novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton, in a book he wrote in 1830, first coined the phrase “the Great Unwashed” to describe what others in his day may have simply called the “riff raff.” This phrase of Bulwer-Lytton’s smacks of elitism, for sure, but it makes a point. In the case of our contemporary American society, we DO have necessary levels of education and expertise, and there ARE people who know things, whose knowledge should be tapped for the greater good. When it comes to subjects like global pandemics, climate change, quantum physics, and music composition, for example, I would consider myself part of the “Great Unwashed,” but not “riff raff.” See the difference? I know I’m playing with a subtle distinction here, and I may be wrong, but bear with me. I’m okay with admitting that my lack of knowledge in certain areas means my opinion should count for less when one of these is in the public forum, for whatever reason. However, in our time, this unwillingness to admit this, or even to acknowledge it is true, is waning rapidly. I saw a cartoon recently that showed a man sitting in front of his computer screen and yelling to his wife: “Hey honey, come here and see what I found that every scientist and expert has missed!” Social media, and a few devilish threads, have “created” a nation of “geniuses” who eschew authentic knowledge, academic credentials, and the scientific method.

 

American “independence” and personal freedom, while generally good things, may be partly to blame for this. EVERY American who meets the qualifications of nation and state to vote CAN vote their conscience. The First Amendment gives them freedom to soapbox their views, as well. This freedom, however, is now “leaking” into the realm of professional knowledge and expertise. Our continuing struggle to get the country vaccinated against COVID-19, and to get this pandemic under control, is a victim of this creep. No matter what the medical and scientific experts tell us, large segments of the population have deemed themselves “experts” based on conspiracy theories or just plain “bad medicine” that have spread like wildfire over social media and through unscrupulous broadcast media. These “rabble” are NOT restricting themselves to a personal decision to resist being vaccinated, but have formed “mobs” of the Great Unwashed, attending school board meetings to protest mask-wearing and other rules aimed at protecting THEIR children. In Florida and Texas, they have even supported passing legislation OUTLAWING the recommendations of health professionals, justifying this action under the guise of “personal freedoms.” The fallout from this rabble-rousing is that COVID continues to harm and kill people, and damage the nation’s economy. 

 

I certainly can’t say for sure that the novelist’s aim was to create a term that would distinguish a group capable of doing such trauma to a society from the mere “riff raff,” but this is what I see. “Unwashed” in our time could mean “inadequately informed” and “unqualified.” That our U.S. Constitution gives political power to such people when their numbers are large enough to either elect or disrupt is a sad truth, but like the biblical concept of “sin,” we don’t HAVE to let it rule the day.

 

As I mentioned in last week’s message, Rabbi Sacks reminds us that there is an important “third leg” to a healthy society beyond the first two of the market and the state, that being its moral code. There are times when rabble-rousers may be needed to rally for this code, which is far too often far overshadowed, even negated, by the market and the state. I believe it was the late Congressman John Lewis who coined the phrase “good trouble” to describe protests against moral travesties such as racism, sexism, disenfranchising the poor, and demonizing immigrants. Standing up for a responsible moral code doesn’t require professional knowledge or expertise, any more than “loving your neighbor as yourself” does. In fact, this makes an interesting point—the moral teachings of Jesus require NO special expertise or knowledge to observe and keep! Jesus, himself, engaged in “good trouble” when he opposed the desecration of the temple by the market, and when he spoke against the religious leaders who marginalized the poor and the lame.

 

Notice Moses’ resignation in verse 14. With all that he had been through with this “stiff-necked” people, he has finally reached the end of his rope with them. He gives up. I wonder, though, if there isn’t a much deeper foreshadowing present in these words? Moses was arguably the greatest religious leader in human history. Is his throwing in the towel possibly a premonition of God’s coming great gift of the incarnation, the Word made flesh, in Jesus Christ? If Moses represents the best of human agency, working with the leading, inspiration, and empowerment of God, and yet now admitting failure with meeting the needs of Israel, does this signal the resignation of the human race to the fact that God’s direct intervention will be essential to our redemption? Something to think about.

 

The “rabble” that came to Moses failed the test of “good trouble.” Their ingratitude for God’s freeing them from Egyptian captivity, for leading them on their journey through the wilderness, and even for providing the manna as food for them was clearly displayed as they complained to Moses that they wanted more. Interestingly, God’s response was two-fold. God GAVE them some of what they were asking for—meat in the form of quail—but also sent prophets to help them understand their need for a moral code. If Israel was to survive, it must become more than just a sum of its “parts”—more than just a collective of selfish desires with the most vocal winning out. This is what a moral code can do for a people. 

 

America is in danger of regressing to a “rabble run” nation. Our sense of individual freedom has given much power to “the Great Unwashed” among us, especially when it comes to things like the COVID pandemic, the climate crisis, the proliferation of gun violence, and growing economic inequity. America has always been strongest when it has rediscovered its need of a moral code to temper our constitutional freedoms. As we learned last week, religion used to help us deduce and integrate this moral code, but between the waning influence of religion, and some contemporary religious groups even SIDING with and FEEDING the frenzy of the rabble, its influence may be ending. From an historical point of view, America would gain from a renewed study of the phrase “We the People” that begins our Constitution. And we people of faith would do well to return to a study of the teachings of Moses and Jesus, teachings that remind us we ARE our “brother’s keeper,” and that a people organized around “loving our neighbor as ourselves” CAN create a benevolent, compassionate, and sustainable society. So, let the “Great Unwashed” take a bath in the truth of biblical love and justice, and may the “rabble” be relegated to a minority that is not yet ready to care. Amen.