I was discussing debate with a friend of mine (You know who you are girl) and I told her that I liked that she was upfront and not afraid to disagree when someone says something that isn't true, even if it could lead to conflict. That's a very rare quality these days. So many people are so afraid of conflict. But apparently fear of conflict isn't the only reason some people don't argue about truth. It seems a big reason people don't debate is that they really just don't have an opinion on these things, even about things that matter.
Weird. At least to me.
So Micah said she really appreciates truth. If someone says something that is false, if she is capable, she's going to set them straight, in a nice way of course. And of course we were talking about truth pertaining to things that matter: salvation, abortion, lifestyle choices. Things like that. We weren't talking about the best flavor of coffee. She mentioned that things changed for her when she let Jesus into her life. Before, she wasn't opinionated. She'd had a permissive 'live and let live' attitude. Then, she "obtained a worldview." She hadn't had one!
This opened my eyes a bit. I have pretty much always analyzed things in my world and tried to understand it to make it better, if only a little bit. That's the philosopher in me I guess. I suppose I figured everyone does the same so when she said she GOT a worldview, I thought to myself, "hmmm. Can you NOT have a worldview?" And I realized that a lot of the people with a permissive attitude must have no worldview. WOW! How can you function without a belief system to guide you?
I guess without a worldview you can do whatever you want. That explains a lot, huh?
Well, it seems we can identify ourselves right now. Do you have a worldview? Do you have an opinion about the important things? Controvertial things? Or do you prefer to let people have their own opinion about them? You must know that the thing that makes controversy so controvertial is that those things matter, right? LOL Wow. Amazing that people know some things matter but don't care enough to form an opinion.
The times we live in.
I guess opinion is responsibility. When you form an opinion, you have to back it up, at least internally. You have to reason first. Well, I reason before I form an opinion anyway. I guess if you are too lazy to summon up an opinion you might also be too lazy to have a reason for your opinions.
Well, you should have an opinion on these things. And then you should reason out why you feel the way you do. Prepare yourself. If you don't have a defendable position, then maybe you should reconsider your belief. So get ready to defend your position. Stand up for what you believe in. And then read my blog post: "I'm Entitled to My Opinion".
Monday, Monday
3 hours ago
6 comments:
Can I believe that a lot of people do not take the time or energy to formulate a worldview? Yes. It's common in this culture not to think. The education system has taught us not to think, but to regurgitate information. Subsequently we are a generation that receives information via the easiest possible route..i.e. TV/media usually, and then regurgitates the information we've "learned" as if it were fact. We take no time to research the info. or think about the consequences of our so called knowledge.
Therefore, whatever the culture/media/teachers/etc. tells you is correct.
Now, how do you know that the info you are receiving from the media or wherever is not correct. Maybe they have your best interests at heart and really are telling you the truth. But, using simple logic along with a little understanding these worldviews come tumbling down.
Example: the message the culture sends that homosexuality is fine, morally acceptable, if not right and deserving of praise. Okay. Let's use a little bit of logic to dismantle that one.
First, anatomy ALONE tells us that homosexuality does not work. Square peg, round hole, even a 2 year old could figure that one out.
Second, what are the repercussions of such behavior? Well, we've been so blessed with diseases such as AIDS directly because of this "profitable" action. (Romans 1:27)
There are many others such as evolution, abortion, etc., etc. etc. I could go on all day. Logic ALONE will dismantle every false argument.
Now, if someone were say walking down a path that took them off a cliff to their death, and you of course see them, are you not responsible to tell them where they are going and what will be the outcome? Of course you are. And you being a good citizen will tell them, not fearing conflict for their life is at stake. So it is with us. As a Christian we are going to be held accountable to warn others (Ezekiel 3:18) or their blood will be required at our hands. We are also required to be Faithful Witnesses of Truth...Jesus told us to disciple nations teaching them everything He had taught us...Rev. also speaks of being a faithful witness, even to death.
I want to be a faithful witness.
Oh! In Prov it says that "a faithful witness saves lives". Cool. I just thought of that.
I certainly agree that logic alone is enough to dismantle any flawed worldview. But sometimes we aren't smart enough to see the logic. Even mature Christians. An example is the sexual revolution. It's pretty clear NOW what harm it did but at the time, at the late 60s no one really thought it would lead to THIS much teen pregnancy, so many fatherless kids, increases in gang activity, drugs and other crimes, and I really doubt anyone saw the increase in sexual activity would have an influence on divorce. The list of negative consequenses goes on, but people in the 60s didn't know all of that was going to happen. The pill had just been invented and that was supposed to solve all of those issues. But it didn't. Condoms were supposed to prevent disease. But they didn't. Sometimes we don't know the logic of the position. The best we lowly humans can do is to obey the Bible. Christians at the time didn't know WHAT was going to happen. They just knew that it wouldn't be good. Today we are in a similar situation with same sex marriage. We don't know what is going to happen, but we know it can't be good because homosexuality is forbidden in the Bible.
Micah, you picked a fine example. In fact I think the example you picked is one of the most difficult controversies today. There is evidence that homosexuality has a natural component. I'm not entirely convinced, but other people are, especially if they want to believe the studies. As long as studies that support homosexuality are out there, you'll be hard pressed to use "logic" to convince someone that engaging in homosexual activity is wrong.
I'm afraid that the logic you gave Micah is easily defeated. I've seen it time and again. Your first point: square peg round hole. If I were to play devil's advocate I would say that homosexuality occurs in nature. Many different animals exhibit homosexual behavior. For many people that sort of nullifies the square peg round hole argument.
Your other argument, about disease such as AIDS... straight people get these diseases too.
So really homosexuality is a tough one. I support the Bible's position of course, but so far in my life I haven't heard a logical anti-homosexuality point that doesn't have a likewise logical pro-homosexuality rebuttal. If you claim it's unnatural, someone will point to two male apes having sex. If you say that it's psychological, someone else will show studies that demonstrate that homosexuality treatment fails more often than it succeeds. I could go on but my point in this is that sometimes the logic behind our position isn't so easy to find. Does that mean the logic isn't there? No! As long as it's in the Bible, the logic is there. I am sure of it. We might not be bright enough to see it yet though.
Personally, if homosexuality occurs naturally in some humans (and I want to be clear that I am not convinced that this is true at all) I believe that God has "blessed" these "homosexuals" with a "cross to bear." God blesses everyone with suffering. Some people suffer from a physical or mental handicap, others with laziness, others with anger, and other people with not so good looks, and still others with very good looks. We all have something to overcome. If homosexuality does occur naturally, I definitely believe that it is still not God's design that you act on those homosexual urges. You know that it's wrong... taboo if you will. You feel it. Not because of a societal convention, but because of that quiet voice in your head. You KNOW it's wrong. Well, the Bible has a very simple answer for things that are wrong...
DON'T DO THEM!
No, i don't pretend to be any type of philosopher or even an astute thinker. :). I'm not claiming to have the best logic on the block either.
Now, just because a behavior occurs in nature doesn't make it justifiable for humans. In fact it might more often than not be just the opposite. Ex: praying manyis eats her mate obviously this is not a good action to emulate.
There are actions from humans and animals which originate out of a debased mind from the result of sin at the fall which affected all of creation. Homosexuality is one of those actions. I cant imagine God would not create a man or animal with a desire and then condemn it.
Also, I do not believe that homosexual "therapy" is the route someone needs to take if they are trying to quit homosexuality. They need deliverance. They need Jesus.
Now, if they don't want Jesus they can still CHOOSE not to act on their inclinations. Just don't do it. Just like I, a straight girl, doesn't sleep with every hot guy I meet. Or any for that matter. I'm choosing not to act on my inclinations until I am married.
This entire dialogue has turned into a conversation about homosexuality. Haha. Oops.
Okay. Yes straight people get AIDS too but it is believed to have originated with gay men. So that's what I meant.
Yes of course natural behavior in animals doesn't mean that the behavior is okay with us. Still, it's hard to convince someone who doesn't believe in the Bible that apes engaging in gay sex doesn't mean that gay sex between humans is okay, or even natural.
"There are actions from humans and animals which originate out of a debased mind from the result of sin at the fall which affected all of creation. Homosexuality is one of those actions."
I totally agree but that only works as an argument for Christians. You have to keep your audience in mind. You can't argue with an atheist and say that something isn't right because the Bible says so. It may be true, but the Bible doesn't mean anything to atheists. This is why I formulate my arguments the way I do and it's the reason why I try to discover the logic behind the positions in the Bible.
Actually I think few credible scientists believe that AIDS originated with homosexuals. It was just coincidence and bad timing. At the time in the 70s and 80s when AIDS began to proliferate the sexual revolution had reached its peak. Straight people, because of the fear of pregnancy, were using condoms. Gay people never feared getting pregnant so they didn't use them. When AIDS swept through the world, who was more likely to get it, people who used condoms or people who did not? Clearly you are more likely to contract AIDS if you don't use a condom. So what happened is more homosexuals ended up contracting the disease than straight people and AIDS became a homosexual disease.
Okay you win.
Is that it then? I win? Awww...
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