greenbaggins
Puritan Board Doctor
I know the title of this post is a bit ridiculous. I couldn't think of anything better to call it. I want to address one particular point where I believe we need to check ourselves. Is culture influencing us in one particular nearly invisible way, namely, the way of outrage, polarization, illegitimate certainty, and fear? Believe you me, I am preaching to myself first on this one, because I feel and see these things, and I doubt I'm the only one.
The way of outrage: if someone disagrees with me, how dare they? Don't they know I have done all the research? Don't they know I have all the answers? Don't they know I know the Bible so much better than they do? Why won't they buckle when faced with the intensity of my razor-sharp arguments that prove everything to my satisfaction, and if it's good enough for me, it should be good enough for everyone? But then, who died and made my brain the measure of all things? Why should I so arrogantly assume that if it is proven to my satisfaction, that such ought to be good enough for everyone else? Of course, in a culture that no longer values logic, the basis of all things becomes emotion, especially emotion based on my own outrage. The thickness of my skin then becomes measurable in single-digit angstroms, and I launch WW3 against all who oppose me, the idiots.
Polarization is becoming more and more popular. Shades of opinion in-between the opposites are not really allowed to exist anymore. Christians need to wake up and realize that post-modernism is no longer the reigning paradigm. Progressivism is not post-modern. Post-modernism lasted just long enough for the aberrant to become just mainstream enough to start tyrannizing the truth. Progressivism doesn't need or want post-modernism anymore, since it is an obstacle to its tyranny. It's not "truth in the eye of the beholder," it's "you have to believe that I have the truth, and your truth, if it is something I don't like, is therefore false." The most common fallacy I see today is the false dichotomy. It is indicative of a highly polarized society where mediating positions are no longer allowed. You either agree with me, or you're not a Christian at all.
Illegitimate certainty is on the rise, too. It doesn't seem to matter how little research anyone has done on an issue, if they have read a dozen online articles by self-proclaimed experts, then they are one, too. It is not a certainty based on revelation, typically. The Christian is often tempted by this into thinking that if they can support their argument from Scripture, then that brings the absolute certainty in all things that they want, and it is bedrock against encroaching liberalism. Never mind that there are Christians who have disagreed about many things in the Bible for millennia. We become ossified in our own interpretation, and thereby become extremely irritated when challenged. As a result, we lose our curiosity. This is an exceedingly dangerous place to be. It is closely related to the fear I write about next, since certainty is the thing many Christians think will prevent them from being enslaved to fear.
Lastly, Christians are being seriously infected by the fear of the world, not just in being intimidated by the world's growing animosity, but also in seeing the world's fear of COVID, say, we wind up forgetting which the winning side is. We forget how many things are both worse than death, or more important than death. Perfect love casts out fear. We have the perfect love of God resting on us. That should therefore cast out all fear. We cannot live by fear. We also need to remember who the true enemy is. It's not the person on the other end of the argument. At worst, that person might be deceived by the real enemy, but is not the true enemy themselves.
The way of outrage: if someone disagrees with me, how dare they? Don't they know I have done all the research? Don't they know I have all the answers? Don't they know I know the Bible so much better than they do? Why won't they buckle when faced with the intensity of my razor-sharp arguments that prove everything to my satisfaction, and if it's good enough for me, it should be good enough for everyone? But then, who died and made my brain the measure of all things? Why should I so arrogantly assume that if it is proven to my satisfaction, that such ought to be good enough for everyone else? Of course, in a culture that no longer values logic, the basis of all things becomes emotion, especially emotion based on my own outrage. The thickness of my skin then becomes measurable in single-digit angstroms, and I launch WW3 against all who oppose me, the idiots.
Polarization is becoming more and more popular. Shades of opinion in-between the opposites are not really allowed to exist anymore. Christians need to wake up and realize that post-modernism is no longer the reigning paradigm. Progressivism is not post-modern. Post-modernism lasted just long enough for the aberrant to become just mainstream enough to start tyrannizing the truth. Progressivism doesn't need or want post-modernism anymore, since it is an obstacle to its tyranny. It's not "truth in the eye of the beholder," it's "you have to believe that I have the truth, and your truth, if it is something I don't like, is therefore false." The most common fallacy I see today is the false dichotomy. It is indicative of a highly polarized society where mediating positions are no longer allowed. You either agree with me, or you're not a Christian at all.
Illegitimate certainty is on the rise, too. It doesn't seem to matter how little research anyone has done on an issue, if they have read a dozen online articles by self-proclaimed experts, then they are one, too. It is not a certainty based on revelation, typically. The Christian is often tempted by this into thinking that if they can support their argument from Scripture, then that brings the absolute certainty in all things that they want, and it is bedrock against encroaching liberalism. Never mind that there are Christians who have disagreed about many things in the Bible for millennia. We become ossified in our own interpretation, and thereby become extremely irritated when challenged. As a result, we lose our curiosity. This is an exceedingly dangerous place to be. It is closely related to the fear I write about next, since certainty is the thing many Christians think will prevent them from being enslaved to fear.
Lastly, Christians are being seriously infected by the fear of the world, not just in being intimidated by the world's growing animosity, but also in seeing the world's fear of COVID, say, we wind up forgetting which the winning side is. We forget how many things are both worse than death, or more important than death. Perfect love casts out fear. We have the perfect love of God resting on us. That should therefore cast out all fear. We cannot live by fear. We also need to remember who the true enemy is. It's not the person on the other end of the argument. At worst, that person might be deceived by the real enemy, but is not the true enemy themselves.