Of youth and conformity

Conservative Christians who dare to think outside the box today are often wonderful targets for staunch liberals. Take a look at my latest comment sections; we have an anonymous commenter who loves to disagree with just about everything I post; and everything I am. It’s hard for many people to have a disagreement without attacking the other person’s character, and I am finding that one of the strongest and most common attacks on one’s character come through such a statement:

Look: you’re just blindly accepting your parent’s thinking! You need to think for yourself!

And yes, there’s one thing they get right! In fact, that statement right there is true with everyone, including the person who said it (though it may not just be their parent’s thinking they conform to). It is not our nature to constantly be questioning all the information we are taking in. In fact we do quite the opposite: when we hear something that is presented in a pleasing way it is very easy for us to “blindly” accept it. That is why so many American’s fall helpless to the fallacies that are relayed by our media; we have lost the ability to stop, question, and think through what we are taking in.

Blindly accepting: we all do it. The question is, who are we following? Is it safer to trust the reporter on NBC, or someone you have known all your life? You may be a real thinker; constantly asking “is that the truth?” but the chances are you have and often will hear something pleasing to the ear, and will not question it.

Hear this:

I would much rather blindly follow my parent’s thinking rather than stumble into the immature mentalities that you find among young teens. Why? My parents are 1. a lot older and a lot more experienced with life 2. God commands me to obey my parents, and that includes trusting their opinions 3. they are my parents!

So it comes down to this: we all “blindly accept” things at various points of our lives, but the people we take counsel from are bound to mess up sometime! And in this case, we go to God’s word. Anonymous can disagree with my beliefs and accuse me of following my parents all he/she wants to, but in the end, it’s not what anonymous or anyone else thinks that should matter to me.

When all else fails and you don’t know who to believe, it’s high time to turn to God. John 8:31-32 says "If you abide in my word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." Nothing on earth can be set in stone forever: even stone wears away, but the Truth shall never pass away, and that is all we can be 100% sure on. (Isaiah 40:8)

Even though I have been raised to question the world around me, I will constantly be following someone, and for now, the best people in the world that I could blindly follow are my parents.

Jennifer

Note: I do often question my parent's thinking (don't we all!) but there are too many times when I don't half as much as they do, and therefore am left with no choice but to believe them.

Psalm 1:1-3

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.