I believe a well worded argument. As much as I would like to say that I research and study before developing an opinion, I must confess that I usually believe full on whatever a good argument states and then research it later.
I realized this about myself when I started to obsessively read the comments on news articles.
I read a news piece recently in which a mother talked about the difficulties she has raising a son with extreme mood disorders and violent tendencies. The woman and her child were both named, as was the town where they lived. I read this article and felt immediate sadness for this poor woman. And then, I read the comments. One such comment accused this mother of being narcissistic and bi-polar, because no sane parent would tell the world her kid’s name and details – thus, marking this kid at 12 as a psychopath on the internet. Suddenly I had a whole new opinion. Maybe this lady was crazy. Maybe the sadness of her story rested more with her behavior than her son’s. What if the kid gets help and recovers and then has to live with the brand given him by the www?
My opinion changed so quickly on the matter that I suffered whiplash. Recognizing this about myself has forced me to question a lot of strongly held views in my life and wonder if they are based on truth, or just reality as I discern it from well worded arguments?
With our 24/7 news cycle, one in which you can choose from a buffet of news organizations to find the one that best suits your views, I wonder how many votes are cast based on powerful speeches, well written editorials, and sound bytes – versus- the votes made based on actual study of the candidate’s policy. Heroes are made and broken in between commercial breaks and page views – how do we know who the real deal is?
Beyond politics, my crises of gullibility extended to arguments on parenting, vaccines, video games, books, skirt length, tube tops in church, and kids with cell phones. I am loaded with strong opinions, but feeling pretty sure that they could change at any time.
Am I alone here? Anyone else taking a step back?
You are *not* alone, not alone at all. As a matter of fact, I feel like I could have written this post, except that I have not imposed a blogging mandate upon myself. It has led me to a bit of an identity crisis, or even a mid-life crisis, because I find that it’s hard for me to have strong opinions on much of anything because I have enough life experience to see so much of the grey. The only truth that I know for sure is Christ crucified. Beyond that, and I mean *just barely* beyond that, I got nothing. All of those denominational issues that get folks riled up, the public vs. private vs. homeschool debates, gun control, parenting brou-ha-ha-du-jour, you name it…I can empathize with many different arguments.
Oh, and football. Football is an absolute. But that’s about it.
I LOVE YOU AMY DE LA GARZA! I really do. I’m right there with you on the “just barely”. I do not question Christ crucified or my salvation through Him, but almost everything else is up for debate. Sadly, this includes football – though never in your presence. I’m not new here.
You are so not alone, Amy. The truth is…most of us function in the way you’ve described.
Sadly it seems to be built into our very human nature. Our brains are wired to filter out, and discard, any information that doesn’t fit with our currently held beliefs.
And so…when we hear a well-articulated argument that aligns with our general beliefs…we’re much more likely to simply adopt it as our own than we are to keep an open mind, research it or even begin to attempt to see it from a new or different perspective.
I became uncomfortably aware of my own tendencies to do this years ago and I strive (not always successfully mind you) to not discard other views out of hand and to really keep an open mind and to question any assumptions I catch myself jumping to. It’s an exercise in awareness.
Thanks for another fabulous post, Amy. I’m so enjoying them.