The Danger in Taking Stands

In recent blog posts I've talked about a couple of different stories. One was a guy who, some news outlets reported, was arrested for "having a bible study" at his house. It turns out that, in reality, he built a 4000+ sq. ft. building in his yard, put a sign and a cross in his yard, and,  basically had a church meet in his home. After skirting the law, and failing to install proper bathrooms, handicap accessibility, etc., he was arrested, not for having a bible study but for breaking the law.

Elsewhere, Chick-Fil-A has been in the headlines when their COO Dan Cathy said the following on a radio show:

"we’re inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage. And I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude that thinks we have the audacity to redefine what marriage is all about."

These comments, and opinions regarding them, went viral. It seemed everyone was talking about Chick-Fil-A and, depending who you listened to, the opinions ranged from "That's his opinion, big deal.." to "Christians need to stick up for Chick-Fil-A and their family values!" to "Chick-Fil-A is run by hate-mongers!" to "Chick-Fil-A gives money to hateful organizations, and that is a big deal". (I made those up, but I think they largely convey the gamut of opinions out there.)

But here's the deal, even as I write about those two examples, I have no way of knowing if I have all the facts. And having all the facts is vitally important. One thing I've learned about communicating is that it's very easy to assume. When we don't have all the facts it's very easy to paint a very one-sided, and yet seemingly believable, picture. Whether it's in individual relationships, or corporate decisions, we really do need to know the full story. We need the context, but the problem is that context is frequently withheld.

News organizations, political parties, and social media sites (which are largely fueled by commentary from those not in the know) are fully capable of twisting and manipulating stories into unrecognizable, but very sexy, dramas. And all this leaves the reader/listener/viewer completely ignorant of the truth, and yet completely sold on what they've just ingested. And so it goes on and on, propagating, morphing, and fueling people's sense of justice, rage, bitterness, sadness, or whatever.

I guess this, among many other reasons, is why I'd suggest focusing our efforts on the problems and issues right around us. If each of us did that, then the world could be dramatically more like God intended it to be. Imagine if we all poured their lives into those around us... into our neighborhood, our downtown, our local government. I imagine this would be a very effective bottom-up approach.

So... let's stop accepting the hype, stop assuming that what we hear online must be true (or false), and pour ourselves into helping and loving those right around us.