Highly Illogical

One of the most frustrating aspects of humanity is our nearly ubiquitous inability to think logically through our suppositions. We tend to cling to our positions on any issue without asking ourselves the question "Why do I believe what I believe?" and in so doing, we often fail utterly to determine if our position is true, sound, and right. Furthermore, it often seems to me that most people let others do their thinking for them. Far too many of us worship at the twin altars of celebrity and political correctness, blindly tossing aside our personal convictions because we don't want to offend anyone, with the end result that we please no one, least of all ourselves.

In some places, it is now politically incorrect to correct children's mistakes in school or make them behave so they actually learn because it might hurt their self-esteem. Excuse me? How will they support themselves (and their own future children) if they can't sit still, follow instructions, and complete a task? Won't it hurt their self-esteem more when they can't get a good job because they are not literate enough to function in the modern business world?

American President Franklin D. Roosevelt is credited with saying "If you let a man believe he is thinking, he'll love you. If you actually make him think, he will hate you." Whether FDR was the one that said it or not, I have found on more than one occasion that this is very true. If you call someone to defend their opinions, even by just politely and gently disagreeing with them in a conversation, you can usually tell how well they have thought through their position (or not) by how angry they get at you for being "wrong".

For example, I once witnessed a conversation in which a man declared to a friend of mine, a Christian, "You Christians are all close-minded! Everyone has the right to live their own lives doing what they want to do and believing what they want to believe!" To which my friend replied, "Of course they do. God calls it free will." The other man's face turned red and he bellowed, "But you *^%& people believe people like me will burn in H*ll. You are so close-minded!" My friend then gently replied, "Who is close-minded, a Christian like me who believes that God loves you and created you in His image with a mind and a free will to do as you wish, even if it causes Him sorrow, or yourself, who believes that any opinion is acceptable as long as it doesn't differ from yours?" The other man just swore at him and stomped off.

Whether you agree with my friend or not, it was fairly obvious who had the logical high ground in that conversation. The other man had utilized only hear-say and prejudice in forming his opinion and so could not defend his position when called to do so, whereas my friend had put some serious thought and study into his position and knew exactly where and how to stand on it.

So next time you are in a group and someone brings up a controversial issue that you really don't know much about except what you have heard, remember this Biblical proverb: "Even a fool is counted wise until he opens his mouth."