I was (very evilly) pondering a piece of theological writing that really set me off. The author had set himself up as The Rational Voice telling two other sides exactly what they were doing wrong, and was just painfully oblivious to his own prejudices. He has several times commented on how much other peoples' Jesus happens to agree with them, and how they never seem to notice. Which always sends my irony-meter through the roof (remember, this is my evil musings here, I get to more edifying stuff soon) -- sends my irony-meter through the roof because he is so clearly oblivious to the fact that his Jesus just happens to agree with him in every way. My snarky-comment generator even considered dubbing his collected writings "Mr. So-and-So's Spec Removal Service" (or Mote removal service, for the KJV fans).
Of course self-delusion only lasts so long. And it finally crossed my mind: the log in my eye is myself. My pride, my ego, my vanity, my desire to be the one who is worth noticing and worth recognizing.
What was it C.S. Lewis said? The real trick for the powers of evil is not putting things in peoples' heads, it's keeping the obvious things out.
That last paragraph also applies to the current political discourse. I'm starting to wonder [read:weep] about the quality of education in this country.
ReplyDeleteChrist is looking for a little humilty, I'm sure. I think He is finding exactly that.
ReplyDeleteYes, our American public education system is just a big leftist indoctrination program.
They don't teach kids how to think, but what to think.
PS, I worry about the "political discourse" too.
ReplyDeleteSteve - Thanks for the encouragement. Btw I'm pretty sure PS is a "leftist" as she usually talks about the right in roughly the same way you're talking about the left. But it would be particularly ironic if I opened up my own Spec Removal Service on the comments to this particular post where I'm supposed to be figuring out something about humility and the log in my own eye.
Take care & God bless
Anne / WF
Left, Right, Progressive, Centrist, Activist, all just labels. My label for myself is a phrase: Following Jesus' views on justice.
ReplyDeleteRegarding eduction: I'm grateful for a class I had in 11th grade where we were taught how to figure out the bias in a news article or broadcast, to look for code words, and to recognize that even choosing which news to publicize involves bias, and that we all have bias.
I don't know if that sort of thing is generally taught.
Many home schoolers tend to lean to the right. The purchased curriculum, if from conservative church groups, would probably lean toward certain interpretations and philosophies, I'm assuming.
But there are also home school options that are from public schools these days as well, so who knows where that leans? But at least with the parents involved, they would know what their kids are getting.
I've been pretty apolitical until this last year, now I'm more outspoken. But in my life I've been on the receiving end of charity due to my father's long illnesses and also have lived with an above average cash flow, half due to above average income and half due to several very frugal decisions made when we were in our twenties that have proved to be worth it in the long run. I have been to, and have close ties to, the 10th poorest country in the world, which has opened my eyes to what true poverty and true generosity really is.
Now our young adult kids all living with poverty level incomes or worse, ie the newly married couple is still unemployed. They are grateful for any lessons of frugality they learned at home. We're there for them if need be, but they'll also have good lessons and memories when they just get by.
We have fed the poor, clothed the naked, and educated kids who would go without if they weren't in a subsidized school. I am speaking quite literally in this paragraph, so you can give me any label you want to that reflects trying to be obedient to Jesus' commands.
These are concerns that we don't usually speak about, but you can find hints of them in my blogs.
Politics just makes so many people bitter and angry ... and bear false witness against each other seemingly with the intent to stir up hatred. Kind of turns my stomach.
ReplyDeleteTake care & God bless
Anne / WF