Atticus Finch: What's Really Bothering Us

Atticus Finch:  What’s Really Bothering Us 

By now most people in the United States have received the spoiler on Harper Lee’s new novel Set a Watchman:  Atticus Finch holds racist views.  More specifically, our moral hero from To Kill A Mockingbird supports the system of segregation that existed in the South in the 1950’s.  Many people are outraged by this spoiler alert and refuse to read Set A Watchman.  Still others think we can no longer hold Atticus in the same esteem as we did in To Kill A Mockingbird.  Needless to say, there will be a lot of discussion in the coming years as we seek to digest this moral punch to the gut.

This national conversation about a fictional character, however, is really a vicarious conversation we want to have about other people we once held in esteem but now have fallen from grace.  For example, what are we to say about John Yoder and Bill Cosby? 

John Yoder was a famous Mennonite theologian who expounded the theology of non-violence in a way that inspired a generation of Christians in a variety of denominations.  His convincing portrayal of Jesus as a non-violent leader and his research into the first three centuries of Christianity that demonstrated the original non-violent posture of the Christian Church was earth shattering.  It set in motion a number of great movements of non-violence and intentional living communities designed to incarnate the theology of non-violence that Yoder outlined.

Then the bombshell came:  Yoder was credibly found to have sexually assaulted and harassed a number of women throughout his career.  The icon of peace and non-violence was himself found to have committed egregious violence to women.  People were rightfully outraged at the hypocrisy and moral failures that Yoder exhibited.  That outrage legitimately spread to institutions that covered up the allegations for years.

Devotees of Yoder have to struggle with the Atticus question:  Does this moral failing cancel out the good that Yoder brought in his theology?  Does his negative behavior outweigh the positive actions in his life?

Similarly, we face the same dilemma over the person of Bill Cosby.  Millions of us grew up watching Fat Albert and The Cosby Show, learning great life lessons that have stayed with us throughout our lives.  Cosby made us laugh, and for that we loved him.  He also taught us great moral values, and for that we love him as well. 

And yet the allegations Cosby faces now are daunting and horrific:  drugging women in order to have sex with them; violating his marriage vows and committing sexual violence against other women.  For many people these allegations are hard to believe.  We want to remember Bill Cosby the way he was in our childhood.  We don’t want to think about the negative side that has existed alongside the good that we saw.

Again, the Atticus question emerges:  Do these moral failings in Bill Cosby negate the good that he taught us?  Does his negative behavior outweigh the positive actions in his life?

These questions are rhetorical.  Each person has to grapple with them in their own mind.  Groups of people will wrestle with them in conversation and dialogue.  In those moments of personal grappling and communal wrestling, hopefully we will be honest with ourselves about our own place in this moral drama.  For those who regularly practice the Ignatian examen, each day we examine our lives to look at the good and the bad that is there.  We are to rejoice over the good and to repent of the bad in our own lives each and every day.  And each day we must ask ourselves:  do my moral failings negate the good that I have done?  Does my own negative behavior outweigh the positive actions in my life?

The revelation about Atticus Finch reveals how little we like moral ambiguity in our fictional characters.  We like it even less in our heroes, and they become our scapegoat for our selective moral outrage.  But I suspect we are more forgiving of moral ambiguity within our own lives.  This is not meant to condone the evil actions of others; it is meant to provide us with pause before we pick up a stone to cast at another.

Perhaps we can still celebrate the good that is within Atticus Finch, John Yoder, and Bill Cosby while at the same time condemn the moral evils they have committed.  By practicing the Ignatian examen each day, we are invited to celebrate and repent each day in our own lives.  Perhaps this daily action for ourselves can enable us to do likewise for others.