I’ve observed a trend in our culture in which people tend to avoid all disagreeable individuals and ideas. Sadly, we’ve become so hypersensitive that our ideas aren’t challenged. In social media, we “block” or “unfriend” anyone who disagrees with our views in the name of “cleaning up our friend’s list.” In daily interaction, we tend to avoid deep discussions on anything of real value. While it’s each person’s right to do this, it’s a bit disheartening because this approach hinders our individual and collective growth. Our ideas need to be challenged. They need to be tested. Through this testing, more ideas can be accepted; other ideas can be rejected. Regardless of our response, a good exchange of information is what happens when we interact with opposing views in a civil and reasonable manner.
The truth is that without such challenges we don’t change nor do we strengthen our arguments. We live in a time where emotionalism seems to have replaced rational thought, and the brevity of “meme culture” has supplanted thorough dialogue. In the current social media-laden environment, being able to sift through the emotions and defensiveness is an invaluable trait. Whether Trump v. Clinton, Dems v. Repubs, #BlackLivesMatter v. #AllLivesMatter, Islam v. Radical Islam, Christianity v. Other Religions, pro-abortion v. pro-life, creation v. evolution, gay marriage v. traditional marriage, we should be able to listen to opinions and accept or reject the those based on their respective merit (or lack thereof). I believe this “avoidance trend” needs to change, and we’ll need to work hard at it in order to do so. Failure at this and we’ll stay in our sad condition–akin to a sick, bed-ridden man who remains that way while the antidote is on the drawer, simply because he doesn’t like the temporary bitterness of the medication.
Anyway, enough with my soapbox. This is just one man’s thoughts who lacks a meme to fully express it (wink).
BTW…
This is coming from a conservative (in thought, not necessarily politically) Christian that wholly believes the Scriptures and the supremacy of Christ. One that believes there’s one way to God and that’s through Christ, that homosexuality is a sin, abortion is murder, and the earth is not nearly as old as my junior high text books taught. Yet, I still see, read, AND occasionally comment on posts from people I’ve met over the years who’d passionately disagree with everything I stated in the last sentence.
-Van