Why is any Christian – especially a pastor – reading a book titled On Bullsh*t? That is a fair question. The short answer is this: As a Christian I am concerned about truth, honesty, and authenticity. Unlike lying, which admits the existence of these virtues and seeks to undermine them through deception, bullsh*t has absolutely no interest in truth, honesty, or authenticity. Consequently, “bullsh*t is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are” (61). This is the conclusion of moral philosopher, Harry G. Frankfurt, in his short essay, On Bullsh*t.

Three Preliminary Comments

Before I share Frankfurt’s insights, allow me to make a few preliminary comments for those concerned about the word, bullsh*t.

First, if you are overly sensitive to the use of foul language, you should quit reading now, visit the rest of my site (which, I believe, is free of foul language). Another more complex suggestion for those who are computer savvy would be to cut and paste this article into a word processor and then do a “search and replace” on the word, bullsh*t. I would suggest the words, baloney, hooey, hokum, or drivel – although none of these words truly capture the offense of bullsh*t.

Second, remember that blasphemy and cussing are not the same thing. “In its purest form blasphemy is ‘a deliberate and direct attack upon the honor of God with intent to insult him’” (New International Dictionary of Theology). Blasphemous speech uses God’s name vainly – in an empty or phony way, a manner lacking in reality or truth. Blasphemy is sinful because of its misuse of God’s name and/or reputation by associating him with acts or ideas unworthy of such association. On the other hand, foul language or cussing is the utterance of obscenities or profanities. These are not primarily considered obscene because of their relationship to God but because of their coarseness and shock value within society. Unlike blasphemy which is sinful and wrong because of its unworthy associations with God, cussing is considered wrong because of how it offends normal societal rules and customs. To summarize: bullsh*t is not blasphemy but it most certainly is foul language. Therefore, it is not explicitly sinful but it is necessarily shocking. (Note: It is interesting to note that when blasphemy and cussing are clearly defined and distinguished that – even though church people do their best to promote a non-cussing image and environment – a lot of blasphemy goes on in the church nonetheless. Could it be that the church’s emphasis on cussing has resulted in turning a blind eye to blasphemy? By assuming we are refraining from blasphemy by remaining free of foul language, authentic blasphemy is free to occur without challenge.)

Thirdly, Jesus was not afraid of strong words. When teaching his disciples that foods do not defile the body, he bluntly speaks about how food enters the mouth, goes through the stomach, and is spat out into the latrine (Mark 7:19). Paul is so bold as to say that, compared to Christ, everything else is skubalon (Phil. 3:8). Though our modern translations sweeten the word to rubbish or waste, the King James Version still remains the most graphic by rightly translating the word, dung. And dung is just another word for, well, you know. (There’s no need to assault you with the s-word anymore than necessary. The remainder of this article will provide plenty of opportunities to do that.)

The topic of bullsh*t is so important it merits our attention. Call it something else if you need to – baloney, bluff, shooting the crap, whatever works for you – but please don’t fail to recognize it, for ultimately, bullsh*t is far more dangerous to truth, and subsequently, the veracity of the Christian faith, than lying. And it is certainly more destructive than a few cuss words! Indeed, as shocking and offensive as it is, bullsh*t is perhaps the only appropriate word to describe it. For the profaneness and offensiveness of the word match the profaneness and offensiveness of what it is intended to describe.

Frankfurt’s Bullsh*t Philosophy

Reading Frankfurt’s treatment On Bullsh*t is a study in contrasts. One might expect that the language used would cheapen his discussion. It doesn’t. His essay on bullsh*t is detailed, profound, challenging, and even inspiring. Though it initially shocks the senses (and for some it will be hard to read or hear repeatedly) bullsh*t is really the only appropriate word for the empty perversion and distortion of speech that it describes.

The bullsh*tter is trying to get away with something. Bullsh*t is neither true nor is it an outright lie (an intentional attempt to misrepresent the truth). A bullsh*tter is unconcerned with truth. He is indifferent to how things really are. Ultimately, “the truth values of his statements are of no central interest to him; what we are not to understand is that his intention is neither to report the truth nor to conceal it… the motive guiding and controlling [his speech] is unconcerned with how the things about which he speaks truly are” (55).

The bullsh*tter’s purpose is not to communicate his beliefs. There is a radical disconnect between what he says and what he believes. This is evidenced in “bull sessions” (a sanitized form of what could actually be labeled “bullsh*t sessions”). In a bull session, “participants try out various thoughts and attitudes in order to see how it feels to hear themselves saying such things and in order to discover how others respond, without its being assumed that they are committed to what they say: it is understood by everyone in a bull session that the statements people make do not necessarily reveal what they really believe or how they really feel” (36).

Bullsh*t is not false as much as it is fake and phony – a bluff. This is the insidious nature of bullsh*t. The one who produces it misrepresents what he is up to. He uses bullsh*t to get away with something. In this way, he is worse than a liar, for he has absolutely no interest in the truth in the first place.

A person who lies is… responding to the truth, and he is to that extent respectful of it. When an honest man speaks, he says only what he believes to be true; and for the liar, it is correspondingly indispensable that he considers his statements to be false. For the bullsh*tter, however, all these bets are off: he is neither on the side of the true nor on the side of the false… He does not care whether the things he says describe reality correctly. He just picks them out, or makes them up, to suit his purpose. (55-56)

A liar knows the truth and responds to it, even though wrongly. He respects it. “Both in lying and in telling the truth people are guided by their beliefs concerning the way things are” (59). The bullsh*tter has no concern for the truth or the demands of truth. In this respect he is worse than a liar. “By virtue of this, bullsh*t is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are” (61). At least the liar has an interest in the truth insofar as he seeks to deceive. He knows that there is a difference between getting things right and getting things wrong. Though he is on the opposite side of the truth than an honest man, he is, “so to speak, in the same game” (60).

If there is no possibility of identifying certain statements as true and others as false than one can either refrain from making any assertions whatsoever (which no one seems willing to do), or one may “continue making assertions that purport to describe the way things are, but that cannot be anything except bullsh*t” (62).

Rising Above the Bullsh*t

We are inundated by bullsh*t in contemporary society. People regularly speak about topics that exceed their knowledge. Their degree of ignorance produces neither truth nor lies, but bullsh*t. This is especially the case in a democracy where it is assumed that it is the responsibility of every citizen to have an opinion on everything. Therefore, citizens make statements about events, affairs, and situations on which they have little real knowledge. The collective product of this is bullsh*t.

Bullsh*t also spreads from those who deny that any objective statements about external reality can be made. Since we cannot know the way things truly are, truth and falsehood have no value. This loss of confidence in objective truth has caused “a retreat from the discipline required by dedication to the ideal of correctness to a quite different sort of discipline, which is imposed by pursuit of an alternative ideal of sincerity” (65).

In a world where right and wrong, truth and deception, reality and fantasy are indistinguishable, bullsh*t reigns supreme. The prize goes to the greatest bullsh*tter. May we in the church, who call ourselves Christians, who claim to follow the way of Christ, learn to see past this and make no accommodations to it. We can start by making sure that the things of which we speak have connection to our experience, understanding, and passion. Too much that passes as Christian testimony possesses the faint smell of excrement rather than the sweet fragrance of truth, honesty, and authenticity. Better the world believe we are liars than that we are bullsh*tters.

© Richard J. Vincent, 2005