Why Government Silence on Drones Is Fueling Fear and Distrust in Leadership

I had planned to write today’s Daily Article about the continuing lack of information from the government regarding the mysterious drones in the night skies. I was not alone in my concern.

Podcaster Joe Rogan said he is “genuinely concerned” about them. One New Jersey lawmaker demanded that the federal government get to the bottom of this “very threatening situation,” stating that we should presume the drones are “not friendly.” Sen. Chuck Schumer called for the DHS to deploy better drone-tracking technology to identify the objects and their operators.

Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, told ABC’s This Week, “You can see why people are concerned, and it’s a lack of communication from the government at the federal and state level that’s at fault here.” He added, “We’re used to having [information] so rapidly. If you don’t fill the vacuum, then all the conspiracy theories get filled in there.” As a result, he stated, “The Biden administration and state authorities have to be more vocal and let people know exactly what they are doing.”

“We Have Not Identified Anything Anomalous”

Then I heard an interview last night with John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council, in which he stated that the mysterious drones are “legal” and “lawful.” He said officials have examined roughly five thousand sightings to date and determined that “lawful, legal, commercial hobbyist and even law enforcement aircraft activity” is responsible for them.

He added, “We’ve seen nothing . . . that indicates a foreign adversary, actor involved or any kind of pernicious national security threat.” He told CNN the same: “To date, [there is] no sense and no indication that there’s a national security or public safety risk posed by any of this activity.”

Kirby’s assurance mirrored a “joint statement” released last night by DHS, the FBI, the FAA, and the Department of Defense:

Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones. We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast.

“People Have a Lot of Anxiety Right Now”

If the drone controversy was unique, the story would be different. But it comes at a time when less than one in four Americans trust the federal government and only 15 percent believe it to be transparent.

Sen. Andy Kim (D–NJ) spoke for many: “I think this situation in some ways reflects this moment in our country. People have a lot of anxiety right now about the economy, health, security, etc. And too often we find that those charged with working on these issues don’t engage the public with the respect and depth needed.”

This issue goes to the heart of our democracy since such a system of governance depends on the credibility of its leaders. When the people no longer trust their elected officials to do what they are elected to do, democracy itself is threatened, as the Wall Street Journal editorial board recently warned.

In a freedom-based society, such trust cannot be demanded but must be earned. Autocrats can try to enforce their edicts through force; kings can attempt to rule by “divine right” and hereditary power. But our system of governance stands and falls on the trust we invest in those who lead it.

“You First Loved Us So That We Might Love You”

Today’s discussion points to an even larger issue: the health and destiny of our eternal souls.

Like elected leaders in a democracy, our Father honors the freedom he has given us. Then, more than any human possibly can, he earns our trust through his sacrificial love. In response, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

The medieval theologian William of St-Thierry (1085–1148) responded to this text by praying:

“You first loved us so that we might love you—not because you needed our love, but because we could not be what you created us to be, except by loving you.”

William was right: You and I are created in the image of the God who is love (Genesis 1:27; 1 John 4:8). This means we must love to be who we are made to be.

However, as fallen people, we need God’s help to love as we are intended. This is one reason Christmas is so vital to our souls and our society: when we see the length and depth to which our Savior would go in coming to our world to pay for our sins, we are prompted to respond to his love with our love.

And when we see the length and depth to which he would go in dying for those sins, we are even more moved to respond to his love in kind, as William noted:

Everything he did and everything he said on earth, even enduring the insults, the spitting, the buffeting—the cross and the grave—all of this was actually you speaking to us in your Son, appealing to us by your love and stirring up our love for you.
You know that this disposition could not be forced on men’s hearts, my God, since you created them; it must rather be elicited.

What does such love elicit in your heart today?

NOTE: In addition to the Daily Article, I often respond to the news of the day with website articles. Yesterday, when news broke of the tragedy in Wisconsin, I wrote, “3 dead, 6 injured at Wisconsin Christian school shooting.” Earlier in the day I published, “Dick Van Dyke nearly died in Malibu fires,” “What Travis Hunter’s Heisman win says about our culture,” and “Kids correct Jill Biden’s ‘Happy Holidays.’” You can find these and other resources at our website, www.denisonforum.org. I hope you’ll visit it regularly.

*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.