open minded

I was having a discussion via someone's facebook post the other day and something came to mind that I fins to be a growing trend in society.  There are a lot of people that claim to be very "open minded" but remain some of the most close minded people I know of.

Here's what I mean:
The discussion started as a talk about Texas' super conservative school boards forcing certain teachings down students' throats, which I'm against, but then turned toward science versus religion in a way.  I'll be the first to admit that science and any argument against it is not my speciality or something I'm all that interested in to be honest.  Yet, I kept find myself going back to this conversation because something stuck out to me in this individual that I see a lot in other areas of life.  Many people claim to have an open minded perspective but are, in fact, closed off from thought outside of what they're comfortable with.

Take politics for example.
(Again, this is not my area of expertise and I often care very little for it other than voting in an informed manner - there is too much drama that me arguing about is not going to change)
Often I see "liberals" talk about how "conservatives" are close minded about minorities, the poor, the environment, and spending.  In reality though, many times these are sweeping generalities and uninformed at that.  I see many "liberals" not open to the idea of more than one solution to problems or ways of learning.  The same could be said about "conservatives" thinking "liberals" are closed off to the ideas of religion and its place in government and schools, when, in reality, there are far more options than they consider or discuss.

At any rate, I feel that we've gotten to a place as society where any idea that isn't yours is shot down immediately as being close minded.  That, in and of itself, is the actual definition of being close minded.  It's really a shame that things are this way in government, public policy, and even within friendships.
We should all strive to have a truly open mind for whatever or whomever comes before us.

A couple things to keep in mind:
I do believe in absolute truth and don't budge on it, as prescribed by Scripture, so don't think I'm some "let's all get along and accept everything and everyone's ideas".  I know some of you have already judged me as such.  Don't do it.  You're being close minded.

Christians: Truth fears no question.  Just because you allow yourself to consider outside possibilities to questions you have or hear does not mean God is scared or changed.  He is truth and He is right.  Fear not.  An open mind is not the Devil's work.  If anything, it is God revealing himself to be what He is.


-peace

unique generation

I was born in a time unlike any other in history.
You might ask yourself, "What was so special about the fall of 1983?"

This was a time when Reaganomics was just getting started, Michael Jackson was becoming a solo pop star, and the internet was  still something that "the government had created" in comic books.  The times have changed, as happens often.  Yet, not since perhaps WWI when soldiers saw planes in combat has a generation seen such a dramatic change that would alter the future so drastically.

Before you write me off as the typical "back in my day" sorta thing, let me explain more in-depth.

Before those born circa '83 people grew up on typewriters and were introduced to the computer keyboard in adulthood for example.  Same goes for many things that are commonplace now for children to grow up on such major advances while their parents were introduced to them in adulthood: the internet, cellphones, CD's, mp3's, and the list goes on.

I remember very distinctly being labeled as "guinea pigs" by a teacher for a brand new idea being implemented into the junior high curriculum; "computer class".  It was a class made up of a room full of computers (each monitor taking up the area of a desk) with black screens where we'd type simple functions in yellowish type.  Two years later I was a part of the last class to take keyboarding class on these computers.  The following year, we had screens with color and (limited) access to the world wide web.  Growing up we could buy records on vinyl (not because it was cool or ironic, but because it was the only way to buy an album) until cassettes came out and then replaced by CD's ultimately.  The security device back then was putting tapes in a plastic holster at least 6 times the size of the cassette.

It is not the amount of things that changed or what they were (as long as there are vintage collectors, there will be vinyl and CD's around in someone's collection of antiques), instead it is the manner in which things changed and never looked back.  If you look back upon other times when things happened, they tend to be more slowly progressed and don't alter the future in such a dynamic way.
The rate at which online life (relationships, commerce, and news) is growing and will continue to grow, you can't help but see the dramatic and world-altertering change that I've been able to see in my short lifetime already.

It will be fun to blabber on, when I'm old, about how "back in my day" we didn't have this or that.  When a gallon of gas was under a dollar, when you went to the store to buy everything, when people knew what a floppy disk was, and when the internet was new.
It's very fun to be in the segment of the population stuck between Generation X, with their angst and over-reaction to their parents' causes and Generation Y, with their vast knowledge of technology and spoiled childhoods in which discipline was absent.
Is it frustrating being such a unique population? At time, yes.  Sometimes I feel that I don't relate to the true Gen Xer's because I'm too young, but definitely don't relate to the Gen Yer's because they like terrible music and don't appreciate a time when MTV played music.  But, what a unique opportunity to be on the cusp of the front end of monumental times that have been, and will be, like no other.


-peace