Below is an article I sent to the editor of my local newspaper back in March--
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,
Have you ever asked yourself this question - Where does all of our skepticism end?
It doesn’t take long to scroll through your news feed to see one’s distrust of congressmen, presidents, governors, school board officials, doctors, health experts, law enforcement, the media, Hollywood, Nashville, local dog catcher, and the list goes on and on to the point that we only pause to breathe in the middle because we would die from exhaustion without it.
I am not saying skepticism is always unfair or unmerited or not even profitable at times but where does it end? Where does this ultra-skepticism of seemingly everything leave us in five or ten years as a world, a country, a society, and an individual?
The other question we must wrestle with along these lines is: what does or would it take for us not to be skeptical of these people? Does it take that politician, official, or journalist to agree with your already-made-up-mind on the subject or hold to your own personal values or preconceived notions for you to believe them? Could it be that we already believe certain sources are trying to get us to “drink the Kool-Aid” that we end up falling for the Kool-Aid anyways but just in a flavor we prefer? Does it take a personal relationship with your source of information or authority to remove the skepticism?
My point in raising these questions is very simple: no one can live in complete skepticism about everything and without trust in someone to inform you on a subject. Your political views come from someone giving you the “facts” of what’s happening in Washington because you’re not there. Your view of Hollywood or Nashville comes from someone else who is relaying to you what someone said in a private meeting or in a so-called “hot mic” which you were not present for nor privy to. And, against popular modern thinking of some on our news feeds, it is impossible to think we can become an expert in every field with a single Google search or Wikipedia browsing where it has taken others 4 to 8 years of classroom study just to apply for an entrance-level job in that field.
In a world that is quickly believing in the absence of absolute truth, where do we go for a standard we can all fall back on? For some it’s the constitution of the United States created by fallible, sin-natured men (like us all) but with seemingly good intentions. For others it is a TV channel that we might deem more patriotic or more American than its competitors.
We ALL have a source we look to for truth: what is your source? You have one—the hardest part is admitting you do and, if it’s your own self, choosing to be skeptical of that source first and most of all.
Sincerely,
A Skeptic of the Skeptic Tank
P.S. I am not an expert on this subject. Your thoughts are welcomed.
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Skepticism comes when we designate a source (media, individual, organization, etc.) as trustworthy only to eventually be let down with the revealing of a secret text message, hidden agenda, or a pattern of corruption. How many times have we seen this? Let’s ask the Newsies in Disney’s Broadway hit—
Snipeshooter: “How 'bout a crooked politician?”
Newsies: “Hey, stupid, That ain't news no more!”
“THAT AIN’T NEWS NO MORE!”
The shocking news is no longer the recurrence of such headlines but our typical response to them—to seek out the next media source, individual, or organization to place our “coin” of trust into only to inevitably be let down again in this seemingly never-ending game that nobody wants to continue playing.
So we stop playing, take our marbles, and go home with our new-found strategy of claiming truth is relative to each individual and never absolute. That is true for you and this is true for me which then makes our own selves the new trust-worthy source. Finally a source that we can trust…right???
WRONG! You see we are quickly finding out that skepticism of all sources (besides ourselves of course) is dangerous because it leads us down a path of “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7). We are confused, frustrated, and searching frantically for unadulterated, unfiltered TRUTH knowing deep-down we aren’t an expert in everything and never will be!
But we continue playing like we are an expert and in doing so we’re the ones who end up losing in the end. Just ask Adam and Eve who no doubt many times replayed in their minds the Serpent’s question—"Yea, hath God said?” Satan’s tactic that day in Eden was to make them skeptical of the One who is absolute more than themselves. More skeptical of the truth from God than their own opinions of that truth.
As Christians, we must believe the Word of God to be the only standard of absolute truth. Therefore, because it tells us that we are but flawed and sinful flesh (Romans 3:23), our opinions may not be and should not be above skepticism.
Be honest about this in your posts, your responses to others, and ultimately your level of humility so that we may answer the questions so many people currently have with a standard we know will always be absolutely true (and, once again, that is not you or I or any other humanly-tainted source we prefer on a given day).
As we live in a society filled with skepticism, may people see in us who claim a belief in God, a greater trust in the truth of His Word than our own. For if there is only one source of absolute truth, will the world perceive we believe it to be us or God?
If us, we give them a standard which, like Adam and Eve, is doomed to fail. If God, His shoulders can bear the responsibility just fine. But remember, it can’t be both. The choice is ours and our answer to that question could very well be displayed in the typing of that very next post.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
Jeremiah 17:9
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
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