Questioning Narratives

In recent years we’ve seen a rise in people, especially on the Right, calling into question what were formerly unquestioned truths. They claim that these “truths” are actually just popular narratives that serve as propaganda, helping to advance some agenda—usually a sinister one.

One example is the Right’s relatively recent questioning of America’s expansive foreign policy. Just 10 years ago it was unheard of for a conservative to oppose America’s many military excursions into foreign lands; today, it’s almost the norm.

Nothing accelerated this movement to “question the narrative” as much as the Covid pandemic. Whether regarding the origins of the virus, or the efficacy of the vaccines, or the effectiveness of the lockdowns and mandates, many people rejected the official narrative given by the powers-that-be, which led them to wonder: What other lies have we been told?

Here are just a few examples of narratives that some are now questioning:

• Churchill was unequivocally a hero.
• It’s America’s role to defend and promote democracy around the world.
• The Apollo moon landings really happened.
• Al-qaeda terrorists crashed hijacked planes into the World Trade Center buildings on 9/11.
• The Covid vaccines were necessary, safe, and effective in stopping Covid.
• Pope Francis is the pope.
• The liturgical changes of the 1960’s led to more active participation by the laity.

To each of these examples (and many more could be given), the average person will simply nod his head in unquestioning agreement. There’s no need for research; we all just instinctively know these things are true. To question them is to question reality itself.

Yet more and more people argue that it is not reasonable to just accept them at face value, especially when those who promote these narratives the most vigorously advance their own power base in doing so.

So what is the proper attitude toward accepting the veracity of statements that are considered “unquestionable” by most?

First, we should recognize that we are fallible, limited beings who cannot know all truth. It’s simply impossible to know the full truth about every event in history. Every single person must rely on “experts” to some extent in order to get a sense of history. To reject everything we’ve been taught is simply an exercise in nihilism.

Further, we’re not required to know the full truth about everything in history, or even the full truth about the major events. There’s no history test for entry into heaven (although hell might include an endless taking of tests). It helps of course to be relatively well-informed in order to interact and evangelize the world for Christ, but knowing the details of America’s foreign policy in Ukraine over the years isn’t required.

That being said, there’s nothing wrong with questioning narratives, especially when those narratives reach an untouchable status and are then used to promote anti-human and anti-Christian policies. There’s nothing wrong with questioning narratives, especially when those narratives reach an untouchable status and are then used to promote anti-human and anti-Christian policies.Tweet This

The most recent example of narrative-questioning happened when historian Darryl Cooper (host of the “Martyr Made” podcast) was on the Tucker Carlson show. Cooper argued that Winston Churchill was a “real villain” during World War II and Carlson agreed that he was a “psychopath.” In Cooper’s interpretation of history, Churchill could have done more to de-escalate the war, and his actions caused many needless deaths. Needless to say, this set the internet on fire. After all, Churchill is one of the most admired figures in British history, and on this side of the pond, he’s revered just as much.

Even though Cooper made clear he had no sympathy for Hitler or the Nazi regime, his comments led to him being labeled a “Nazi Apologist” and other horrible epitaphs. But these insults revealed the deeper problem, one that Carlson and people like Patrick Buchanan have criticized repeatedly: World War II has become the founding myth of the modern American Empire and as such cannot be questioned: It absolutely must be seen in black-and-white terms, with the Allies the pure good guys and the Axis powers the corrupt bad guys, else the American Empire’s continued existence might be put in jeopardy.

This myth is necessary to then justify America’s role in the world following World War II but also today. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the media, on both the left and the right, repeatedly evoked World War II as the template by which to interpret Putin’s invasion. This of course is also the template that’s been used over and over and over again to justify American military actions against anyone our political leaders don’t like, from Saddam Hussian to Bashar al-Assad.

To question the judgement of Churchill, then, calls into question the legitimacy of current American foreign policy. And that just can’t happen. So instead of engaging Cooper or Carlson, the Elites just shout them down and call them names. It’s important to constrict the boundaries of allowable conversation; stepping outside those boundaries might lead to uncomfortable (for the powerful) conclusions. 

Yet the refusal to engage serious questions only encourages more people to “question the narrative.” More people end up questioning more historical events and truth claims, even ones that have massive support. I’ve seen people question heliocentrism, for example, arguing that the same people who push the Covid vaccine also push the belief that the earth revolves around the sun, so geocentrism must be right.

This is where Catholics, who must embrace the truth and recognize the value of reason and rationality, must be careful. Because we love the truth, we must be willing to question narratives that undermine true human flourishing. But also because we love the truth, we can’t mindlessly accept all counter-narratives. Just because someone is wrong about the efficacy of the Covid vaccine doesn’t automatically make them wrong about cosmology.

If we see a narrative being pushed relentlessly in order to promote something we either know or suspect advances its proponents to the harm of others, then absolutely we should question it. We should do research and listen to multiple voices. We might find the dominant narrative is false. But we might find our conclusion is that the narrative is actually true and just being abused by powerful people.

In the list of examples I gave earlier, I personally did research to see if they were true or not. Like everyone else, I’m not an infallible interpreter of facts, and so my conclusions might be wrong. Note that, other than the Covid example, I initially, and often for many years, accepted the truth of the narrative and dismissed its skeptics. For those wondering, here are my own conclusions after my own research:

• Churchill was unquestionably a hero. FALSE.
• It’s America’s role to defend and promote democracy around the world. FALSE.
• The Apollo moon landings really happened. TRUE.
• Al-qaeda terrorists crashed hijacked planes into the World Trade Center buildings on 9/11. TRUE.
• The Covid vaccines were necessary, safe, and effective in stopping Covid. FALSE.
• Pope Francis is the pope. TRUE.
• The liturgical changes of the 1960’s led to more active participation by the laity. FALSE.

I won’t go into the details of how I came to my conclusions here, nor do these simple statements mean I agree with everything another “narrative questioner” thinks about a topic. The important thing is that I didn’t either accept all as true unquestioningly, nor did I reject all of them once I started becoming a “narrative questioner.” While others might come to different conclusions, I think we’ll all be better off—and the evil designs of our Elites put more in jeopardy—if more people use their reason to question the narratives.