July/August 2000
Truth or Consequences
by Greg Albrecht
| Many of our moral/spiritual fast food outlets are turning out values that have been pulverized with political correctness blenders. |
In The Lost World, Michael Crichton observes, "Human beings never think for themselves, they find it uncomfortable." Judging from the meaningless mental mush we North Americans feed our minds, our comfort level must be maxing out. In the pursuit of comfort (since "feeling good" seems to be one of our supreme values) we devour a diversified menu of trivial pursuits, obscure facts and irrelevant information. Internet highways in cyberspace offer another source of endless irrelevant information. Is any of this info-trivia relevant or significant?
Consider, for example, the television show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Millionaire exhibits a new attitude toward information -- a new paradigm that challenges the traditional value that knowledge is a mark of achievement. Millionaire is a compelling illustration of the power of useless information in a society given over to the relentless pursuit of trivia.
Successful contestants on Millionaire are not necessarily those who are the most intelligent. The prize goes to the person who knows the most trivia -- the person who has a command of useless information. The less valuable the information, the more it contributes to making someone a millionaire. A heady mix of useless information and materialism.
Our culture is overwhelmed with info-trivia. We are so overloaded with info-trivia we are in danger of becoming a mile wide and two inches deep. We are offered "information, information everywhere" -- but where do we go for wisdom and truth? We are starving for truth and wisdom. The Hebrew prophet Isaiah warned that "truth has stumbled in the streets. Truth is nowhere to be found" (Isaiah 59:14-15).
Information and facts alone lack the logic and critical thinking necessary to form wise conclusions. Critical thinking may actually become extinct before the federally protected prairie dog does.
Truth has disappeared from our schools, mass media and even from some churches -- with political mush and jargon gumbo offered as substitutes. The deepest and most profound thinking that many North Americans will put up with must fit on a bumper sticker.
Our culture is feeding us information and trivia, served by short order cooks who whip up reality softened by euphemisms, hype, cliches and slogans. Info-trivia chefs mash and mutilate the truth, placing new spins and definitions on words. Many of our moral/spiritual fast food outlets are turning out values that have been pulverized with political correctness blenders.
North Americans want to feel good at all costs, and our diet of predigested spiritual junk food (no thought necessary!) is giving us bloated temporary satisfaction. We have been consuming moral confusion for so long that we are now beginning to look like what we have been fed. Truth is not marching on in these United States.
In Unriddling our Times, Os Guinness, a thinker, speaker and author of international renown shares, "Words, words, words -- we are assaulted from all sides by words, but we are starved for a word from God. Blaring, blasting, hectoring, seducing, words come at us from all sides today -- on billboards, bumper stickers, newspapers, television and junk mail. But few modern words are decisive; they do not make things happen. Most are only accessories to images and accomplices to sales. And almost none -- including sermons -- bear any trace of a transcendent source or the sign of a wind from heaven."
Examine the food you are feeding your mind. Start with the Bible -- it is filled with knowledge and wisdom. The Bible will introduce you to "the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6).
Greg Albrecht's Plain Truth Commentary can be heard each week on several radio stations as well as the PTM website-www.ptm.org. Your prayers for our radio ministry are appreciated!