Winning Words 8/20/10
“The less you know, the more you believe.” (Bono) One problem with sayings like this is that they can’t be applied to all situations. However Bono’s quote can be applied to some situations. I’m sure that we’ve all heard people give opinions when it’s obvious that they don’t know what they’re talking about. Maybe it’s just the way I am, but I don’t feel like being argumentative in those situations. ;-) Jack

FROM PRJS IN MICHIGAN: I learned from (my debate professor) that you don't come to a debate with just verbosity....you better know what you are talking about. That is why I rarely entered the "debates" on the synod floor....they were mostly hot air. I don't think I ever heard anything on the synod floor that even resembled a real debate. We were hearing mainly "our gut reactions" which usually were of the lowest level possible. FROM JACK: Isn't there a difference between a debate and a discussion?

FROM SH IN MICHIGAN: Enjoyed your WW this morning again for the zillioneth time. Also am reflecting upon your own WW at the end too. They are making me connect to an issue I am getting more and more passionate about. About three weeks, sitting by Betty's bedside as she was actively dying, with her two
sisters, we for some strange reason (perhaps because we were talking about everything under the sun) got to talking about homosexuality. Both stated their belief that homosexual attraction and behavior is unnatural, abnormal, sort of an anomaly in creation (that last part is my words), they only said unnatural, abnormal, wrong even. They related to me that they know homosexuals and don't like the whole issue flaunted in their
faces. However, it turned out that they don't like all the homosexuals on the TV, in the movies, in the newspapers with their pride marches, etc., etc., etc. and that they don't even talk about sexuality with their homosexual friends and acquaintances. Actually, those are often the kinds of conversations one gets into at 11:30, 12:00 at night when things get really quiet and also inhibitions are loosened I guess. I belong to a group at the Presbyterian Church here in town, where homosexuality is not thought of in that way at all, in fact the people, heterosexual and homosexual are trying to forge ahead and regard the relationships we all want as God-given and with every possibility of being natural, normal, healthy, right even. The crux of the matter is that, in the past I would--in the search for peace--not let people know what I was thinking but actually now because I see how unaccepting people are of the whole homosexuals that they know, I am trying to stick my neck out and say what I think without at the same time getting into an argument. Maybe what I say one time isn't accepted at the time but later on, down the road, all our thinking will be changed and a more whole and healed and God-pleasing faith community will be formed. This is a touchy WW and I know a lot of us struggle with how to talk to each other and actually learn so we actually know more and not less and believe more truthfully and less dishonestly. Thanks again for enabling so many to express themselves on things which also are touchy and we just want peace and love all over. FROM JACK: You said a mouthful and have given us something to "chew on" today. Some might think it seems incongruous that sitting in the midst of the dying experience and a discussion of homosexuality are put together. Perhaps it's just the reality of the "life" experience. Thanks for sharing this.

FROM ML IN ILLINOIS: not that life is a competition, but...a debate with such a person is pretty much a lose-lose situation. FROM JACK: I'm uncomforable around someone who's looking for a "gotcha" retort.

FROM JO IN MICHIGAN: It's difficult to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person... FROM JACK: It's especially true if the unarmed person is a "half-wit." Or, if either of us sees the other as a "nit-wit."

FROM JT IN MICHIGAN: Thank you - when someone is so certain of his view I just listen. No arguments from me either. FROM JACK: I don't mind if people express their opinions. The "opinionated" are the ones who turn me off.

FROM CWR IN B'MORE: ......interesting. It's the old Faith/Inductive Reasoning argument. Kierkegaard settled it with his "leap of faith" conclusion wherein he suggested that it's wise to take reason as far as it will go and when you reach a chasm "leap over it". That, the leap, is faith. I think that knowledge and reason are companions.....faith is the glue. FROM JACK: I'll take your word for it....and Soren's, too.

FROM SG IN TAMPA: Or the more you know the less you know you don't know-or something like that. FROM JACK: Good thought! You're putting a positive spin on Bono's words.

FROM MO IN ILLINOIS: The less you know, the more you believe? A nebulous saying at best. I can't grasp what he might have meant, although probably in the case of faith, those who make a real critical study of the Scriptures find many contradictions, and reasons for doubt. They would have to work harder to have simple faith of the child that is held up to us as ideal...I have certainly had my times of wrestling! He seems to be
saying that the less knowledge, the more believable something is...?! AGHHHHHHHHH! FROM JACK: Read again my commentary on Bobo's words. For example, there are people who form religious beliefs without bothering to study the background of their sources (the Bible, for example). There are people who express strong opinions about what this country stands for, without studying history.