The parable of the boiled frog has been around since the 18th century but has an applicability today that is timely and sobering. It says that if a frog is placed in a pan of water and the water is gradually heated, the frog will boil to death. Conversely, if the frog were to be put into a pan of hot water, it would instinctively jump out. The frog that boils to death does not appreciate the danger it is until it is too late.
Two things are in the news today that are unrelated but are not unlike the warming water that takes the life of the frog. Erika Lee McEntarfer was fired from her job as Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the same news cycle, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced that it would be shutting down. CPB and BLS are not high on the minds of most people in the middle of a hot summer so it is easy for these two stories to go under our collective radar.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics was established in 1884 to collect and analyze data about the economy. In order to avoid the appearance of partiality the dates for major data releases are scheduled more than a year in advance. On a monthly basis, the Bureau reports on employment trends that are looked upon as a barometer of the economy. Not infrequently, the Bureau revises past reports, both up and down, as more data becomes available. This happened in the most recent jobs report that corrected the May and June statistics. They showed a marked slowdown in the economy. Because these numbers were very disappointing to the current administration, Ms. McEtarfer was accused of falsifying this data and was fired. This has been characterized as shooting the messenger because someone didn’t like the message.
Since its creation by Congress under President Lyndon Johnson, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has supported non-commercial telecommunication services. It is funded by Congress and channels the majority of it income to 1500 locally owned public radio and television stations. Its mission was to operate with “… a strict adherence to objectivity and balance in all programs or series of programs of a controversial nature…” according to the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. It has frequently been the target of legislators when they accurately report what is taking place in Congress. A few days ago, Congress voted to withdraw its previously approved funding, leading to its demise. Because truth, objectivity and balance can sometimes rub our Washington solons the wrong way, their action is another example of shooting the messenger because the messages may be inconvenient.
Ever since false news and alternate facts have entered our lexicon of public discourse, truth has been relegated to the category of opinion. Public Broadcasting and the Bureau of Labor Statistics have become just the latest casualties in the highly charged atmosphere of political discourse. Frogs in warming water end up dying because they are not intelligent creatures.
In the Bible, Jesus uses parables so that his listeners will spend some time trying to understand the lessons he is teaching. Midrash was an ancient Rabbinic tool for helping the Chosen people understand and live the Torah. For Muslims, the Quran is all about understanding Allah’s will for correct living. All three traditions require adherents to pay attention to the world, understand the challenges of life and act accordingly.
In 1787, Benjamin Franklin said that we have a republic if we can keep it. Our democratic republic can only survive if we all pay attention to the truth, support a free press, connect the dots of what is happening around us every day and seriously reflect on what kind of a country we want to have and to be.
Msgr. Garrity is a Senior Priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and former pastor of St. Mary’s Parish and School in Lynn
