It is said that one should never discuss religion or politics \u201cin polite company,\u201d but, to me, that\u2019s always seemed a rather convenient way to maintain [if not promote] the status quo. Following this particular rule of etiquette does naught but protect one from exposure to new ideas and perspectives. It allows one to believe that everything worth knowing is already known. It damns us to infernal, mind-numbingly eternal conversations about minutiae. And it ensures our never-ending division, both spiritually and politically\u2026which benefits none but those who would be our masters.<\/p>\n
America\u2019s most belligerent, vocal [and thoroughly Christ-Free] \u201cChristians\u201d abhor any and all reminder of Jesus\u2019 words\u2026an aberration which long ago proved just the incentive I needed to become a Reverend. Our average [equally belligerent] \u201ccitizen\u201d \u2014 \u201cleft\u201d and \u201cright,\u201d \u201cliberal\u201d or \u201cconservative\u201d \u2014 is similarly averse to information regarding candidates\u2019 and government\u2019s records, if soundbytes [and other catapulted propaganda] are the stuff of dreams\u2026a disconnect which made me a fan of anarchy. The complete absence of any form of political authority does not have to mean \u201cchaos and disorder,\u201d whereas complete control by any form of political authority always means \u201cTrouble.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recently, I had an \u201cimpolite discussion\u201d [in a friendly manner] with a self-described \u201chighly-educated professional\u201d who, when presented with an array of unequivocal facts, suddenly exploded. \u201cI don\u2019t need facts. That\u2019s my opinion, and that makes it valid!\u201d Variations on this theme are now a daily occurrence, whether discussing religion, politics, medicine, science, history\u2026virtually any subject which might benefit from participants\u2019 knowledge of facts. Life would be better if we simply and always [and ever so politely] agreed to disagree? Even about such as, oh\u2026whether that spot on the map is Australia or Kuwait?[!]<\/p>\n
Why do so many of us expect [if not insist] that our uninformed opinions be treated as sacrosanct? Why is it considered \u201cimpolite\u201d to encourage Thought, to introduce facts, or to acknowledge the elephant in our living room? \u201cWillful ignorance\u201d is the most valuable commodity \u2014 to politicians and the clergy\u2026to kings and generals\u2026to Madison Avenue and Big Pharma\u2026et cetera, ad nauseam. Why does it seem human nature to defend most passionately one\u2019s right to be misled and enslaved? Why are the most profoundly ignorant also the most eager to act as The Deciders for us all? If ever there were a proper time and place for a \u201crude\u201d Awakening, this moment and planet Earth would be It\u2026Rv [for whom the oft-abused truncation of a veritable Truth — “if you believe that when ignorance is bliss ’tis folly to be wise, you are indeed a fool” — is an unpetable peeve.]<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people who are honestly mistaken learn the truth, they will either cease being mistaken, or cease being honest.\u201d \u2014 Anon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is said that one should never discuss religion or politics \u201cin polite company,\u201d but, to me, that\u2019s always seemed a rather convenient way to maintain [if not promote] the status quo. Following this particular rule of etiquette does naught but protect one from exposure to new ideas and perspectives. It allows one to believe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelastchurchofgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelastchurchofgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelastchurchofgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelastchurchofgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelastchurchofgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thelastchurchofgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3,"href":"https:\/\/thelastchurchofgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions\/3"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelastchurchofgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelastchurchofgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelastchurchofgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}