Dumb, Dumber, Dubya: How an Assumption Can Make an Ass Out of You and Me.

I’ve never cared for bumper stickers. I find that the issues they represent are 99.9979632% of the time larger, deeper, and more complex than the slogans strapped to automobiles’ rear ends represent. (Although, I’ll admit it would be pretty cool to have a bumper sticker that said, “I’m smarter than your honor student,” or “My other car is another car.”) However, one thing bumper stickers can do is tell you a lot about the owner and operator of the 3 second-slogan-mobile.

For instance, while I was driving to work today there was another car on the road. This other car was a typical Seattle car; small, probably energy efficient in some way or another, contained a political bumper sticker, and had the right blinker stuck on for about 4 blocks. The ironic thing was that the car with a right turn blinker on in the left turn lane had a sticker referencing the intelligence of a, one, current president of a particular country, the United States. It stated, “Dumb, Dumber, Dubya.” Clever I suppose, although alliterations are probably the easiest bit of humor to come up with in my opinion. (Hence, my writings usually have an adequate amount of alliterations all about.)

This bit of irony got me thinking. Is this person aware of everyone’s ability to be dumb now and then? Granted some are more gifted with the ability than others, but still everyone is dumb at some point in their life. So, why do we assume then that our leaders or, more generally, everyone that isn’t our self are immune to making mistakes? It’s like there’s this pedestal and we’re putting people up on it.

Here’s the problem. False assumptions lead to false conclusions. If I start assuming everyone around me isn’t going to make some sort of mistake at some point, then I start expecting perfection out of them. The second they make that mistake, I’m disappointed. If I start assuming everyone around me isn’t going to make a mistake and I, then, make a mistake myself, I look like a fool. I assume no mistakes, I conclude perfection. Perfection is broken, and my conclusion proves false.

Second, where does forgiveness live in a world of perfection? If I assume no mistakes and someone makes a mistake, is it easier or harder for me to forgive that person for their mistake? They broke my expectations. Of course I’m going to find it hard to forgive that person. However, if I assume the correct assumption that is that people will make mistakes, when the mistake comes it’s easier for me to forgive.

Now, you may be asking, “What about people who make mistakes and don’t admit to them? I mean, doesn’t that make them a jerk or something?” Yes. Yes it does. But that doesn’t mean we cannot forgive them. I believe Jesus said, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” I mean they killed the Son of God and didn’t know it. How jerky is that? But Jesus forgave anyway. If Jesus carried the attitude that these people were incapable of doing such a thing, He might have been a little more pissed off when it happened, but He knew they were capable of such atrocities and was willing to forgive in spite of them.

So, are people capable of being dumb? Absolutely. Are they responsible for their dumbness? Absolutely. Are we as followers of the Great Forgiver expected to forgive? Absolutely. Why is that? Because we can be dumb ourselves, and while we were being dumb, Christ forgave us.