Why I Trust Ideas More than I Trust People

Fr. John Corapi pre-scandal

Something I've thought a lot about lately is how important separating ideas from a cult of personality is. People will let you down far more often than ideas will.

Before I say anything else, I want to re-iterate that the ability to trust people is the basis of being able to form healthy human relationships. I'm not advocating choosing not to trust your friends or your family and instead opting for that self help book you found at a garage sale. In most cases, that's a very bad idea (worse in some cases than others. A book by L. Ron Hubbard's probably going to do a lot more damage than a book by Mother Theresa, but you get the idea).

When you choose to place someone, a priest, a speaker, a teacher, even a parent, on a pedestal, that is when you've got a problem. When you choose to canonize everything that they are and think that they could do no wrong, or when you trust an idea solely because it comes from that person, then you get into trouble. There's a reason the church waits until a saint is dead to canonize them.

The things that this person is saying might be good and true. The advice that they give may change lives and right wrongs, and their words may be stirring and beautiful. It's fine and good to take inspiration from the words of others. It's fine to want to share their words with others, especially with people that you know will be helped by them.

But ask yourself this. What if the person you've gotten this good advice from turns were to turn out to be a hypocrite? What if their actual lives look nothing like the lives that they preach and call others to have?

Are their words still good, or do you throw everything you've heard from them out the window?

If the words and ideas stand on their own, you can sometimes walk away from the source richer for having been exposed to it,  even if it turns out to be compromised.

A good example of this is the work of a priest named Fr. John Corapi. Fr. Corapi was a well known speaker and Catholic figure head, well beloved especially in conservative circles, who had a Catholic radio and TV show and the Catholic speaker version of groupies-- loads of middle aged grandparents, retirees, earnest Franciscan students, and nuns who would attend his events. The guy preached solid theology, and he preached it very, very well.

Several years into his career, allegations of sexual misconduct with adults were brought against him. The network that aired his content decided to suspend his show until the investigation was completed. He responded by ditching both the network and the priesthood, becoming a rough 'black sheepdog' Catholic commentator for awhile, then ditching that and disappearing from the public scene altogether. The last anyone saw of him was a picture of him wearing a leather jacket and standing in front of a line of motorcycles on a LinkedIn profile page somewhere.

The allegations and his reaction to them seriously scandalized many, many people and led to serious repercussions for people surrounding him. My family was friends with several people in the religious order he was a member of, and we live in the diocese that had jurisdiction over him. We knew people that left the order over it, and someone who lost their job in the diocese because he made an unfavorable comment publicly on social media about how things were being handled. A lot of people were emotionally devastated that this person they trusted and looked up to would act like this.

But here's the thing...in my house, we still have a couple DVD copies of the talks he gave sitting on our shelf. Fr. Corapi betrayed the trust of everyone who listened to him, but what he actually said is still true, well thought out stuff. I would never show those talks to a group, I wouldn't want to scandalize them by referring them to a compromised source, but I'd watch them for my own edification. The ideas are still good, even though the person who came up with them let so many people down.

So the next time you see a speaker you love, read a book by an author you admire or hear a radio commentator give his opinion ask yourself-- what am I responding to? Is what the person is saying true and logical and helpful, or am I here because I like the person saying it? If you're trusting the person over actively thinking about what they're saying, you may want to re-evaluate your relationship with them.

There is no substitution for educating yourself and forming your own opinion. You may find that some people consistently give good advice, and that's great. There are good sources out there that give information you can trust. But remember to use your God given reason, and never to idolize a source of truth or opinion.

God gave you a brain. Use it.