On Authority

Waldmark, 21 August 2008

Authority points to a created universe. Is that why many people have difficulty coming to terms with it?

All around us we notice the custom of people being addressed not by their name but by their function or role.

“Mr Chairman, on the subject of…..”
“Mr Secretary, at our last….”
“Reverend, the deacons have proposed….”

This custom is widespread. Common among the above examples is that the person being addressed is in a position of authority. It does not matter much whether authority is the result of having been elected into a certain position, or born into it, or having been promoted as a result of hard work or ambition or both, or attained as a result of superior knowledge or achievements. The thing to note is that function or status or position calls for a certain way in which the person wearing authority should be addressed. Almost as if authority not only triggers respect but also a certain form of address.

Close to home we still address some by their function or position before we state our mission or question or desire.

To our schoolteacher: “Miss, my homework…”
To our GP: “Doctor, it hurts right here…”
To a parent: “Mom, I want…..”

As a general rule, addressing each other by first name is reserved for encounters between people of equal rank or comparable social standing, as between friends or in the family.

“Peter, close the…”
“Pauline, where is my….”
“Hey George, good to see….”
“Great shot, Bill…”
“Nice one, Jamie…”

Existence of authority

Authority occasions the use of a certain form of address. So where can we find the reason for that? The answer lies in authority representing power and influence.

Power and influence have another characteristic: they imply the opposite phenomena of subordination and obedience. This is why a great many people in the world today have serious problems coming to terms with authority. Which does not mean that authority can be termed non-existent. It can be protested against, even rebelled against. But however strong the opposition to authority, that does not change the fact that it exists.

Survival of the Fittest

I looked into this issue of authority with the aim to discover a basis for its existence within the framework of the Theory of Evolution. But I could not find any. There are no reasonable arguments in support of the existence of authority on the basis of evolutionary premises. In fact, authority is not just a strange phenomenon, but rather a complete anomaly if mankind would be the result of a long series of Survival of the Fittest events. Everywhere I noticed people in authority who, judging by their physique or intellect – attributes and characteristics than can be identified according to evolutionary principles – should not have that authority.

An example is a rather short and skinny referee at an NBA match. A physically small person, but when he blows a tiny whistle, instantly a bunch of towering athletes stop doing what they are doing. The tiny man wields an enormous influence over the actions of these strongest and fittest guys in the game. Yet, on the basis of the Survival of the Fittest theory, the small man might have been expected to be trampled underfoot the instant he tried to stop one of these giants storming forward to the basket.

Yet he did not suffer injury or die. One small man blows a tiny whistle and a buch of big men halt.

The logic in the theory of evolution indeed explains the position of the giant athletes in their teams. They have reached their status as a result of endless practise, physical perseverance and a supremely strong physical built. They have fought their way to the top and the fight was mental and physical, otherwise they would not be there. These players being what and where they are in life is a powerful endorsement of the theory that superiority is gained at the expense of less superior beings in an ongoing process we call Survival of the Fittest.

Then why this anomaly of obedience to a small referee?

Defying the evolutionary process

The small man instructs big men to stop and it happens the way the small man decides, not the way the big men would have wanted. We see it happening and we cannot deny it. But neither can we explain it by the reasoning that science has taught us.

If this strange phenomenon would have been restricted to NBA players we might try to ignore it or try to reason it away. But it is everywhere around us!

A guy who is neither physically nor mentally the strongest man in the world becomes the President of the USA and the most powerful man on earth. Mr Greenspan, Mr Samaranch, Kofi Annan, Mrs Rice, Mrs Merkel; these were and are persons much smaller physically than most others surrounding them, yet they not only survive, they prosper! They gain in power and influence and their authority increases.

Still closer to home we encounter the same thing. The local company Board of Directors, the auto dealership, the influential architect, the headmaster… all over the world we see physically small or sometimes even weak men and women excercising authority over tens and hundreds and thousands of others physically stronger than themselves, defying the principle of Survival of the Fittest.

Rooted in Creation

After having contemplated this issue there was only one conclusion I could arrive at: the phenomenon of authority does not find its origin in evolution, therefore it must have its causes somewhere else.

People do not agree on how heaven and earth have come into being. But in general, when considering the origin of things, people in the West either believe everything is a result of a Big Boom and nature taking its course along the path of chance and elimination, or they believe that the universe and all things in it are the result of the creative power of God.

Having concluded that authority is contradictory to the main building block of evolution, the process called Survivial of the Fittest, we must therefore conclude that the concept of authority is rooted in the Christian belief in the Creation.