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August 01, 2005
Opinion Anorexia: The Lure of a Low-Calorie Intake of Alternate Perspectives
If you've been keeping up with The Husband's blog, you've probably read his response to Doug Phillip's essay "Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade." You may also have read the responses that Doug himself received. And if you did all that, then you probably, gentle reader, noticed the paucityof disagreement from his readers. The choir answered in soaring tones with resounding "amens."
Not that it comes as much of a surprise.
After all, you sign up for e-mail newsletters from people that you trust; you subscribe to magazines that interest you; you buy cd's of lectures from people you respect. When it comes to our money and our time, we often (and I might say understandably so) equate "stewardship" with a strict information-consumption diet of conservative media and a few carefully-chosen Christian commentators. But even within the Christian sphere of cultural-analysis there are a slew of choices, ranging, perhaps, from Doug Phillips-like folk on the vanilla end, World Magazine and friends in the strawberry section, and Relevant Magazine holding down the chocolate. So I like chocolate. I buy chocolate. I don't buy vanilla. Makes sense, right?
It makes so much sense, actually, that I'm fairly confident in suggesting that your run-of-the-mill evangelical is not the only or prime culprit. Opinion anorexia affects all political, religious, and moral persuasions. It's in our nature to desire affirmation. With the constant spray of information shot at us each day, it's simply easier to read people that you feel like you can wholeheartedly trust. There's even, as Richard Posner recently posited in a New York Times essay, economic reasons for the growing movement away from the middle and towards the ends of the political continuum.
Of course, our prediliction for a certain course of action hardly makes it right.
The point of all of this reading should be to fufill at least a three-fold calling:
- a calling to be humble; to recognize my own blindness and the vanity of ever believing that I have attained whole truth
- a calling to be a culture-maker; "subduing the earth" can only happen if we engage the earth
- a calling to be a student of theology; that means reading the Bible itself, not just what other people say about the Bible
And that leaves me with a bundle of questions. I read the New York Times, Salon, and Relevant and listen to NPR; does active humility mean thoughtfully reading Vision Forum as well? (Yech. It's easier to read to my left than to my right.) If I believe that multiple perspectives are an invaluable resource, then how do I encourage other friends and family to consume a multi-course media meal? How do you write and speak with conviction, while encouraging your audience to sift you with the Word of God? How do we consume a hearty, ranging diet of opinions and analysis that strengthens instead of bloats us?
I don't know. But I don't think a skinny mind will do.
Culture, Yo , Faith , Writing | By elissa | 03:38 PM
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Comments
Excellent thoughts Elissa. I agree with your 100%. With Scripture in the morning and evening to bookend the day, there is plenty of room to read all along the spectrum. NPR on the way to work. The Washington Post first thing in the office. Daily doses of GOP talking points shot via email. And an occasional read through of the Republic just to make sure you know what the real lefties are saying.
Posted by: Ellis at August 3, 2005 09:35 AM
