“Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.” Proverbs 4:23
“The naïve believes everything, but the sensible man considers his steps.” Proverbs 14:15
For one of my classes this term, I had to listen to an old recording of a children’s record done in the 60’s by comedian Steve Allen entitled: “How To Think.” While it is a little out of sync with our time, it is also pretty spot on as it pertains to teaching people, especially children, how to think. The funniest section I listened to was on knowing how to tell fact from fiction. Let me just say: we don’t do this well.
We seem to have lost the ability to think critically as we take everything we read as fact. Particularly when it is on social media. It is almost as if we need to go back to school to learn how to discern fact from fiction. So, when it comes to knowing what a fact is, I would say if it is something that is provable, it is a fact. If someone were to tell you that one plus one equals 2, that is a fact. Or if someone told you that Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States, preceded by John Adams, that is a fact. Those items are both provable. But if someone were to say, I like fruit cake and your response to that is I don’t like fruit cake…that is an opinion. We don’t have to agree. And we certainly don’t have to argue over who is right or wrong because there is no right or wrong when it comes to opinions. They are just an individual’s opinion about a subject.
Of course, my examples are rather simplistic. There are complicated issues out there that are multi-level and filled with nuances. Our opinions on them are just as complicated and nuanced. But again, they are our opinions. They are not facts.
What we seem to need is how to hold the tension between what my opinion is on a subject and what your opinion on that same subject might be. Especially when they are different. And…this is the hard part; we can still be friends with people who hold a vastly different opinion from ourselves. We don’t have to agree. Sometimes it is important to agree to disagree and that is ok. Because what I have found in listening to what people’s opinions are, even when I disagree with them, I can learn why they might feel the way they do. I may learn their opinion may have nothing to do with the actual issue at hand but comes out of their experiences. By staying in dialogue with them, I may change their minds. Or they may change mine. But we have maintained our relationship, which is the important part.
We live in a world too full of anger and hatred based on false assumptions and believing opinions are facts when they are not. We should not mistake our feelings about something as a fact. It isn’t…it is just our opinion.
Sometimes people believe a “fact” that is in reality just wrong. For example: someone might believe that it never snows in Montana. I would say there might be just a few people who live in Montana that would disagree. And they would be right. Because it snows quite a bit in Montana. In the case where someone shares what could be called a “wrong fact,” I believe it is a kindness to respectfully share the correct information. And I emphasize that we should share the correct information RESPECTFULLY. If you are hearing Aretha Franklin in the background…good. Because our interactions should be all about R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
One last comment: we should always fact check our facts to ensure that we are right when we offer them. It is not always easy to do but it is something we should do. I know I have been caught in sharing a “wrong fact” because I trusted the person who shared it originally. I have learned that even when I trust the source, sometimes they get it wrong. So, double checking a “fact” never hurts. Proverbs gives us a great reminder: “The naïve believe anything.” We do not want to be naïve. We do not want to get caught up in conspiracy theories and other teachings that are nothing more than “wrong facts.” Let’s not be naïve but sensible as we discern between facts and opinions. Especially as we go to the polls to vote on November 5.
And if you want, when you vote, say Happy Birthday since Election Day falls on my birthday this year!
Peace,
Pastor Beth
Beth's Blog 