The Sanhedrin's "we don't know" answer is pretend agnosticism — they knew what they believed but wouldn't say it. This is a modern plague: people claim not to know as a cover for not wanting to submit to the evidence.

Mark 11:31-33: They reason through both options and find both politically dangerous, so they say "we don't know" — but they DID know (they believed John was from men). This is pretend agnosticism: using "I don't know" as a convenient veneer for unwillingness to be honest about the evidence. Winger sees this as a modern plague — people who say "there's not enough evidence for Christianity" while believing in reincarnation with zero evidence. "Our will dictates what we believe more than the evidence." Personal example from DV counseling: a man said evidence for Christianity wasn't enough, but when asked his evidence for reincarnation, said "I've never thought about it." The irony: they ask Jesus a question to trap him with an honest answer, then refuse to answer honestly themselves because it would trap them.