Afternoon, friends. Coming at you armed with underdeveloped ideas contrived in the middle of a restless night so be warned…I hope they make sense. I couldn’t seem to sleep last night…I tried praying and even some writing before getting lost on some internet news websites. My insomnia quickly became despair as screaming headlines and frothing commentary from “experts” jumped off the screen, painting our country to be nothing more than a raging dumpster fire in most every way. I feel like I’m learning what is happening at the mercy of a series of optical lenses and audio filters which are of course proclaimed without bias, politics or narrative, right? Whatever. Came to some conclusions while sitting in my comfy chair in my FSU sleep pants at about 2:30am though. No, it’s nothing earth-shattering or even Pulitzer-worthy, but…
I truly believe we are now experiencing the dreaded flip-side of the moral relativism movement we were warned was coming for so many years. Now, it’s not only OK for your “truth” to be different than my “truth,” it’s heroic and courageous for us to speak our own mind, yelling into a boundless black hole of ideals and convictions regardless of their validity or foundation. That mindset has denigrated our culture into a formless, structureless blob without identity or unity of purpose. Our country is like an amoeba that can’t go anywhere because it’s being pulled in so many different directions all at once. In the newfound freedom of defining what we want “truth” to be, each of us have consciously or unconsciously contributed to a dense and intoxicating fog that now enshrouds our nation, eroding what used to be and what it should be into what it is. Sigh.
This deepening relativism and moral “meh”ness has now created unavoidable collision and conflict. Everyone’s version of truth and priority no longer runs parallel to each other or even in the same direction. Ideological disunity is now the norm because according to our culture, right and wrong no longer actually exist and are therefore, up for debate. Blogs, vlogs, social media, politics and activism have jumped into that void, championing causes/moral constructs/societal expectations…deafening storms which now are raging all AT THE SAME TIME. Unfortunately, those who aren’t pushing and shoving to proclaim their own “truth” quietly drown in the chaos of what everyone else spews forth. There are no winners nor will there ever be. Sigh again.
Taking it one step further…the “truth” we have assembled to be ours is unfortunately comprised of fallible and corruptible humanistic pieces recruited specifically to fit the worldview WE want to accept as truth, if even only for this week. Gone are the days when we can assume factual messages are purveyed by any kind of media, research from sources or figures in authority regardless of political leaning. We sincerely hope, but sadly, none of us know whether what we read, see or hear is indeed factual instead of rhetoric tainted by the software, mood, experience or distended worldview of whoever created it. You guessed it…sigh x 3.
Thus, the confusion deepens…the darkness becomes more tangible and we collectively become even more frantic for something or someone to anchor us in the ideological maelstrom that becomes more violent and baseless with each passing year. Such an anchor exists…or does it? Hmm…will have to write more on this later.
But before I do…what are your thoughts? Not looking for political debate…our problem is so much bigger than any political party or agenda. I will say the spiritual component of this scenario cannot be understated…but how should it defined and therefore, discussed? Tell me your thoughts in the comments and let’s talk!
<εφημέριος><
