Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m a very bad blogger. SO SUE ME! What you could possibly sue me for I have no idea, except suing me for intentional infliction of emotional distress on the account of your personal online blogging experience, negligent infliction of emotional distress on the account of your personal online blogging experience, the tort of outrage, mental anguish (that one’s dedicated to Boomer), or just the loss of a good blogging experience (I’m really NOT egotistical…). Other than that, no idea! If you DO decide to sue me for any or all of the above, all I have to say is good luck finding an attorney that will represent you!
But, as fun as that was, that’s not the reason for this post. I’m a participant in the NCFCA (National Christian Forensics and Communications Association, for more info see www.ncfca.org). I participate in Lincoln Douglas VALUES debate. This year I also participated in two speech events, Duo Interpretation (a 10 minute interpretation from literature with a partner, my partner and I did The Tortoise and the Hare from Politically Correct Bedtime Stories) and an Original Oratory. An original oratory is pretty simple, just a 10 minute speech on anything you like. It could be on peanut butter if you wanted. Anyway, I wrote mine on the “Battle of the Mind.” I am including it below. I liked giving the speech, and I enjoyed writing it. Please comment. Do you agree with it? Disagree? Let me know!!!
Jade
I am biased. You are biased. There is no way around it. You have a personal philosophy, a personal set of beliefs that were either instilled in you from childhood, or ones you chose for yourself later on. No matter how hard you try, you will never escape from your biases, in any situation. Even if you look at something with an “open mind”, your mind is already partially closed, because of what you already believe, and the unwillingness to change your belief.
The thesis statement of this speech is, “You are what you believe.” What you believe and what you do with what you believe shows your true self. It also tells others where you stand in the battle of the mind.
Okay. So. This is great, you think. So now, we know that we cannot ever escape our biases, nor can we ever look at a situation with complete objectivity and what we believe shows our true self. So…now what?
Two things, actually.
(1) We need to be mindful of the biases of others.
(2) Logic is dangerous when it puts your faith at risk.
Now, I bet the second thing really has you cocking your eyebrows. Just wait though, you’ll see what I mean.
Okay, now we can get into the first point.
We need to be mindful of the biases of others.
Okay, first question. Why do we care about others’ biases? Such as…why does Angelina Jolie’s opinion matter? Or Ted Kennedy’s? Or Larry King’s?
Two reasons. (1) They influence the weaker-minded. (2) They push society towards a Platonic worldview. More about that Platonic worldview later. Let me show you the impact these people have on the weaker-minded.
Mind you, a two-year-old is not going to be watching C-SPAN and listening to Ted Kennedy ramble, but the effects Kennedy has on those who already follow his ideas will influence that two-year-old. For their benefit? No. To their detriment? YES!!!!!!!! This ties into the Platonic worldview, but, like I said, more on that later.
Okay…why do Angelina Jolie’s and Larry King’s opinions/biases matter? They are big names in Hollywood. They are starring/reporting in the movies, the television, and the media you watch. Even if YOU don’t watch them…others are. And that is where the danger lies. The influence these people are having on those who do watch them is tremendous and you should be entirely terrified of the influence they are having. Paul said in Romans 16:18b that “smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.” This has to do with a Platonic worldview.
I am going to give a little background on what a Platonic worldview is and where it came from before I link it to this point.
(NOTE: For the purposes of this exposition this encounter is muchly exaggerated)
Aristotle, a pupil of the philosopher Plato, is going to visit Plato. It’s a nice sunny day in Athens. Aristotle is walking down in the road in a toga, shining in all his Ancient Greek glory. He soon reaches his teacher’s house.
Aristotle: Yo, teach! It’s me, your student!
Plato: Oh, not again…Aristotle, my boy! Won’t you come in?
Aristotle: Okay, so, I want to know what it is exactly that you believe.
Plato: Isn’t that what I’ve spent my whole time teaching you?
Aristotle: Nope. You’ve taught me what philosophy is, how to teach philosophy to others, yada, yada. Just give me a thirty-second blurb.
Plato: On?
Aristotle: On government I guess.
Plato: Well, the government should control everything. They are the smart ones, after all. What I mean, is, they are of a higher intellect than an everyday citizen. The government should be like the conductor of an orchestra. You lose government, you lose everything. The citizens are the players. You lose one of them…big deal!
Aristotle:) Eh, not bad, 29.2 seconds. But, what’s with the conductor government? I mean, I don’t mind them conducting business, politics and stuff, but they shouldn’t control everything! And since when did I become some trombone that no one cares about if I get lost? I’m not a servant to the government, no one should be!
Plato: HOW DARE YOU UNDERMINE MY AUTHORITY! I WORK AND I SLAVE TO TEACH YOU AND YOU STILL DON’T GET IT! YOU CANNOT HAVE YOUR OWN PHILOSOPHY!!!!!! MINE IS SUPREME!!!!!!
Aristotle: Well, who died and made you the Queen of Sheba? I am most certainly entitled to my own opinion/philosophy/bias!
Plato: You’ll never amount to anything! Be gone, you rebel!
Okay. Now that that’s done…let me do a quick recap.
Plato is total government control, since they are smarter, citizens servants to government.
Aristotle is limited government, each citizen an individual, who should take care of themselves first and then the government.
So in the future, when I refer to a Platonic worldview, that’s what I’m talking about.
Okay…now I’m going to link.
The Platonic influence people like Ted Kennedy, Angelina Jolie, and Larry King give to the world leads the weaker minded into submission. We need to have the opinion of Aristotle! We have to understand that if we don’t, we are going to be put into a Platonic government.
The most apparent example of this is the Muslim religon. In Muslim countries, illiteracy is the norm, there are hardly any computers, and many are killed simply because they are non-Muslim, or simply because they have a different idea of things than the government does.
This is the ultimate Platonic society. Each citizen in a Muslim country is a servant of the government. They do what they are told, when they are told. They believe what they are ordered to believe. New ideas are suppressed. Their society is backward.
This is what Platonic’s are pushing us towards.
This is why we must watch, and care about the worldview of others. Or we will end up in a Platonic society.
And thus, you see, the War on Terror, which all those Platonic’s are against, I might add, really comes down to the Battle of the Ideas…the Battle of the Mind.
Now onto my second point.
Logic is dangerous when it puts your faith at risk.
Now, to prove this to you, I am going to pose the popular question….
What hath Athens to do with Jerusalem?
Let me put some terms into place first.
Athens = Sola Logos (Logic alone)
Basic Philosophy = Humans are able to understand everything, through logic and human reason. If it cannot be explained, it does not exist.
Jerusalem = Sola Scriptora (Scripture alone)
Basic Philosophy = Humans have faith that God is the creator of the world, that Jesus is the Savior of all, and that the Holy Spirit works in the heart to create faith, as well as other beliefs the Bible confesses. It is not humanly possible to understand how all the processes of God work.
Now that terms are in place, let me move to a major point.
We cannot possibly understand everything. Why? If we had all the answers, we would not have questions. Having all the answers, we could explain everything, there would be no need for a Savior, or a God at all, and questions would not exist. After all, we understand everything with a humanist worldview. However, we do know that there are questions. This leaves room for faith. So faith can exist.
Now, for an actual answer to the question, “what hath Athens to with Jerusalem?”
Humanism and Christianity cannot be merged.
You cannot value human logic and reason over Scripture. When you start merging human logic with the Word, you are allowing (a) doubt into faith and (b) agreeing that the humanistic worldview is better, because you have to be able to explain what cannot be explained.
I’m not saying that logic doesn’t have its place in Scripture, but you cannot explain everything in Scripture. Some things you just have to take on faith. Let me provide an example of this.
Okay…let’s look at a popular debate currently going on, Creation vs. Evolution. God says in Genesis that He created the world in six literal days. Many hold the belief that God could have used evolution to create the world. This is true in a way, God COULD have used evolution, but He didn’t. They back up this argument with a popular Bible verse that says a day is like a thousand years to the Lord. Here’s the thing, they’ve tried to mix human logic and reason with Scripture. They are, however, taking the verse grossly out of context, and trying to disprove the Bible. This may not be their intention, but this is what they are doing. As you can see, when you use logic over Scripture, you are taking yourself down a dangerous path.
Now, logic can be good, however, if you use logic to make sound arguments, to connect your faith more closely to the Bible (for instance, if you use logic to show that Creation is six literal days. I just did.), etc. It really comes down to values and application. Thus, the answer becomes, what do you value more? Sola Logos or Sola Scriptora?
Now to close, I would like to talk about VALUES and their APPLICATION and how they matter. This is a huge part of the battle of the mind. The way you apply your values will express a lot to people. This is part of how to deal with the aforementioned “Athens”.
Okay. Now let me say that you must first decide what it is you VALUE. Create a little list in your mind of what you value and how much you value it. For instance, I value truth more than justice. Now the reasoning behind this is that if you do not have the truth, you cannot have justice; because you will not know what is true and then can’t decide what is just. (See, this is me using logic in a good way!)
Okay, now that you’ve got that list, you’ve got to work on APPLICATION. (This will show how good you’re using that logic!) Just because you value something doesn’t mean you apply it. This is important to understand. Please use your values wisely. Application of values in your life, how you apply and use them is essential to winning the battle of the mind.
For illustration, we have to love our opponents in the battle of the mind. We need to pray for them, pray that they find the truth. Showing them that application of mercy will be crucial. However, we cannot always be merciful. We have to show some tough love too, show them that we will not tolerate their brainwashing techniques and theories of world dominance. This is just an example, there are many things we can and should do in the battle of the mind.
But, the first step is to GET INVOLVED! When you do not, you are doing exactly what the Platonians want! We are ignoring the problem, and believe me, that will not make it go away.
Don’t let the Platonians win!
So, now go out, therefore…and choose for yourself, judge…what will you do?
Are you going to watch and be mindful of other’s biases?
Are you going to choose Sola Logos or Sola Scriptora?
Are you going to apply your values in a wise way to the world?
Are you going to involve yourself in the Battle of the Mind?
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