If something was right yesterday, but wrong today, which is the more unstable–our standards, or ourselves?
If we change our minds because we are shown, and can see, that our opinion was based on wrong or incomplete information–as when we look at an unfinished jigsaw puzzle and think it’s going to be a merry-go-round, but the finished picture turns out to be a bandstand–we are being reasonable, using our brains as God intended.
But if a lot of college professors, movie stars, and politicians tell us, authoritatively, repeatedly, that the finished picture is not a bandstand after all, but a cageful of monkeys; and that if we continue to see it as a bandstand, we are wrong, hateful, stupid, and deserving of some penalty: what are we, if we wind up believing them and not our eyes?
Properly trained Americans, I guess.
Suppose the completed picture of the bandstand has been on display for thousands of years, and looks exactly like every bandstand that we’ve ever seen; but then today a federal judge rules that it’s not a bandstand. Suppose we are bombarded with media messages endorsing the judge’s ruling, every night and every day on television. How long will it take us to concede that it’s a picture of a monkey cage? And what does that make us, when we do?
There is no freedom without truth. Just a little point to ponder.
Sorry to disagree with you; about it’s being a little point to keep being “fooled” into agreeing something is true when it isn’t. And the sooner we call lies “lies”, the better. Sorry it took so long to cast my vote. This lady has been dealing with a whole house-full of nitty-gritty problems. that take valuable time from “more important” details.
What I was wondering about is the ease with which people my age, or older, abandon beliefs they’ve held all their lives, core beliefs, and adopt new ones diametrically opposed to the old ones. The only causative factor seems to be people who have power and influence–“leaders,” movie stars, bent churchmen, etc.–incessantly telling them that white is now black and black is now white. It doesn’t matter if you or I stand there crying, “That’s a lie!” We’re just religious fanatics and haters. And so I have family members, who were brought up to know better, who are now perfectly okay with homosexual pseudomarriage. I mean, don’t they already know that that’s a lie? But suddenly, in their eyes, I’m a bigot for not having changed my beliefs!
Well, I don’t change. I’m not going to, either–not unless God’s word changes. But for some of these folks, all that has to change is the words they hear on TV.
I think that you have nailed the cause, Lee. TV, movies, music, etc. are all very powerful sources of influence. The world has changed drastically since the dawn of electronic mass media and the Internet has accelerated the process right off the scale.
IIRC, you no longer watch television and I haven’t watched TV in some years. What I find interesting is the effect being around a television now has on me. Literally, I can’t stand to be in the room with it. Visiting friends and relatives recently found me spending most of my time outside, avoiding the blaring televisions that seem to be a feature of most homes I visited. Interestingly, one relative, a person with whom I have a great deal in common, did not have a TV set on by default, whenever he is at home.
I have a TV set, but I do not watch broadcast, satellite or cable programming. I only watch programs which I buy and can play without advertising. It is the constant interruption and distraction which gives TV its power to have its suggestions take root in the psyche.
Years ago, my friends and I rented a house at the shore. Along came a gorgeous sunset, the sun going down on Barnegat Bay–not something you can see, where we live. Most of us were out on the porch, admiring it. But one stayed inside to watch TV. “Soul Train.” I asked her, “Why in the world are you watching *that*?” And she answered, “It’s all that’s on.”
Let me outta here…
That’s what astounds me; people are controlled by their TV sets. My abstention, with regard to television programming gives me a different perspective and makes it stand out in relief. I have literally seen couples arguing about not being able to hear one another speak, shouting over the sound of their TV sets. Just mute the #$&*@ thing! It astounds me, md makes me hate television.
On this weekend’s “Huckabee” show, Gov. Mike told how he had this past week been a speaker at a religious meeting in Anaheim, CA. After he did his speaking part, he was interviewed by a magazine. He told the interviewer the biggest problem in America was the break up the traditional family structure. Because of his answer the MSM outlets castigated him as a bigot and being anti-LBGT, As Huck said on his show, he never said anything about LBGT to the interviewer.
Where is it written that you can’t be anti-LGBT?