I think that truth and justice fit with Christianity, so that makes it easy for me to be an American as a Christian. I believe it could also be the case for someone who is Muslim as well... or a Buddhist, or some other religion.
But I'm reading some of a high school world history textbook. Take this line: Islam's "fundamental teaching that all Muslims are equal within the community of believers made the acceptance of conquerors and new rulers easier" (176). It's talking about the military conversion of parts of Africa to Islam in the 1000s.
I almost laughed. Now think of ISIS. Imagine they come to town and say, "We're going to come in here and take over your cities. But if you will convert to Islam, we will consider you all equal and that will make it okay." Of course not if you're a Christian or Hindu. Of course not if you're a woman.
I am of course not wanting a textbook that is biased against Islam either. What I'm wanting is a real commitment on the part of objectivity and truth, thinking that ardently strives neither to be biased one way or another. I don't want to walk on eggshells around someone who holds to a Black Athena theory or around Ken Ham or around some person who skews the history of Islam. I want to be able to say, this is just a mess of special pleading.
The American way is truth based on evidence and logic, approached as objectively as possible. America was forged by Enlightenment thinkers. An objective approach can fit with all these religions, including my own Christianity. The goal is to find what God truly thinks, not what my tribe wants him to think.
Give me truth, not collectivist thinking!
Showing posts with label objectivity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label objectivity. Show all posts
Friday, December 12, 2014
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
The Quest for Objectivity
By now everyone has heard of the rioting in Ferguson last night after a Grand Jury decided that the policeman who shot Michael Brown would not be indicted to go on trial.
Now I want to be very clear: THERE IS NO ONE READING THIS BLOG WHO HAS ENOUGH INFORMATION TO KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT DECISION SHOULD HAVE BEEN.
I would think there was tremendous pressure on the Grand Jury to indict him. Then again, I don't know the people who were on the Grand Jury. YOU AND I JUST DON'T KNOW. I'd like to think that the system works most of the time.
What I bemoan is rather what I see as a loss in the US of any valuing of objectivity. We have dethroned modernism with its primacy on evidence and logic as the basis for sound thinking. So among the intelligensia we have created a space for a postmodern academia without any clear standards of truth... and we have re-empowered the pre-modern majority to rush forth unbridled in unreflectivity, including the church.
The rule of law is based on evidence and logic. That is a sign of high civilization. I realize that could be perceived as a prejudicial comment on the superiority of the West, so I want to make it clear that 1) most Americans aren't there and 2) plenty of non-Westerners are.
I've thought recently that, next time I teach philosophy, I really need to spend more time on logical thinking and rampant fallacies like hasty generalizations, the fallacy of subjectivism, etc. And the church is no better at thinking than anyone else in America. Indeed, because Christians often assume that the starting assumptions of whatever group to which they belong are revealed from God, Christian thinking is often skewed from the start.
Modernism wasn't the boogie man. It is what is responsible for the development of the West these last three centuries, hands down. It had a standard for truth that was tangible and that allowed for arbitration between competing claims. Now that it's had its spanking from post-modernism, how about we reclaim the quest for objectivity with the appropriate cautions? Modernism strikes back.
I don't know what the truth is about this situation... but neither do the imbeciles burning things in Ferguson... and neither do you or I.
P.S. Please do not make any racist comments if you comment on this post. I will delete them. Most African-Americans do not support the rioting in Ferguson, and there are just as many idiotic whites who have similar thought processes. Think Timothy McVeigh.
Now I want to be very clear: THERE IS NO ONE READING THIS BLOG WHO HAS ENOUGH INFORMATION TO KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT DECISION SHOULD HAVE BEEN.
I would think there was tremendous pressure on the Grand Jury to indict him. Then again, I don't know the people who were on the Grand Jury. YOU AND I JUST DON'T KNOW. I'd like to think that the system works most of the time.
What I bemoan is rather what I see as a loss in the US of any valuing of objectivity. We have dethroned modernism with its primacy on evidence and logic as the basis for sound thinking. So among the intelligensia we have created a space for a postmodern academia without any clear standards of truth... and we have re-empowered the pre-modern majority to rush forth unbridled in unreflectivity, including the church.
The rule of law is based on evidence and logic. That is a sign of high civilization. I realize that could be perceived as a prejudicial comment on the superiority of the West, so I want to make it clear that 1) most Americans aren't there and 2) plenty of non-Westerners are.
I've thought recently that, next time I teach philosophy, I really need to spend more time on logical thinking and rampant fallacies like hasty generalizations, the fallacy of subjectivism, etc. And the church is no better at thinking than anyone else in America. Indeed, because Christians often assume that the starting assumptions of whatever group to which they belong are revealed from God, Christian thinking is often skewed from the start.
Modernism wasn't the boogie man. It is what is responsible for the development of the West these last three centuries, hands down. It had a standard for truth that was tangible and that allowed for arbitration between competing claims. Now that it's had its spanking from post-modernism, how about we reclaim the quest for objectivity with the appropriate cautions? Modernism strikes back.
I don't know what the truth is about this situation... but neither do the imbeciles burning things in Ferguson... and neither do you or I.
P.S. Please do not make any racist comments if you comment on this post. I will delete them. Most African-Americans do not support the rioting in Ferguson, and there are just as many idiotic whites who have similar thought processes. Think Timothy McVeigh.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Wikipedia entry on the Geneva Bible
I took a peak at the Wikipedia entry on the Geneva Bible of 1560. It thankfully has at the top, "The neutrality of this article is disputed." If you read it, the article seems to have been written or doctored by an enthusiast.
Modernism wasn't entirely evil. It's true, no one is objective. But I'd rather get my information from someone who is at least trying to be Spock-like, not FOX News or MSNBC. Postmodernism has simply given a green light for institutions of information and learning to be premodern.
We need reference points that are thoroughly committed to evidentiary thinking, because the more presuppositional you are, the less you base your thinking on data. This is what educational institutions are supposed to be, places where the professors aim at objectivity based on evidence rather than partisan promotion.
I'm hoping the climate in America, at least among its thought leaders, will return to the goal of dispassionate observation. The current climate, which encourages magical thinking, will simply return us to the second world.
Modernism wasn't entirely evil. It's true, no one is objective. But I'd rather get my information from someone who is at least trying to be Spock-like, not FOX News or MSNBC. Postmodernism has simply given a green light for institutions of information and learning to be premodern.
We need reference points that are thoroughly committed to evidentiary thinking, because the more presuppositional you are, the less you base your thinking on data. This is what educational institutions are supposed to be, places where the professors aim at objectivity based on evidence rather than partisan promotion.
I'm hoping the climate in America, at least among its thought leaders, will return to the goal of dispassionate observation. The current climate, which encourages magical thinking, will simply return us to the second world.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Objectivity and God's Thoughts
1. All truth is God's truth.
Assuming that everything God thinks is true, then it is a tautology to say that "All truth is God's truth." If something is true, then it is obviously what God believes.
2. Most of the time, believing the truth does not require irrational faith.
This one is more debatable. Some would disagree. Certainly the evidence doesn't always point to the truth. Also, I'm not suggesting that the truth is always understood precisely or literally. I'm simply saying that it seems dubious to suggest that God has, in most cases, rigged the world to look like the false rather than the true.
3. Therefore, the more objective we are, the closer we are likely to come to God's thoughts.
And this includes the more objective we are about the Bible. In theory, objectivity about the world shouldn't lead in a different direction than objectivity about the Bible, and vice versa.
All truth is God's truth.
Assuming that everything God thinks is true, then it is a tautology to say that "All truth is God's truth." If something is true, then it is obviously what God believes.
2. Most of the time, believing the truth does not require irrational faith.
This one is more debatable. Some would disagree. Certainly the evidence doesn't always point to the truth. Also, I'm not suggesting that the truth is always understood precisely or literally. I'm simply saying that it seems dubious to suggest that God has, in most cases, rigged the world to look like the false rather than the true.
3. Therefore, the more objective we are, the closer we are likely to come to God's thoughts.
And this includes the more objective we are about the Bible. In theory, objectivity about the world shouldn't lead in a different direction than objectivity about the Bible, and vice versa.
All truth is God's truth.
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