Lear HOW to think instead of WHAT to think

I am worried about my generation and the generations that have followed me. The reason that I am worried is because we have a couple of generations that have been trained by our State run schools in the art of “belief” instead in the art of “thinking”. Our public schools no longer offer a classical education, an education that includes logic, reasoning skills, and debate. Instead, our kids are taught WHAT to think instead of HOW to think. This is very dangerous because people who do not know how to think are easily subjugated and controlled. I would like to demonstrate this with a hot topic that is being discussed all over our society.

I am a minister of the Gospel and have served people from all kinds of different races, languages, cultures, socioeconomic backgrounds etc. Each one has its uniqueness yet each one is basically the same. Sin nature is dominate in all cultures and manifests itself in many of the same ways, over and over again. I would like to show you a snippet of a conversation that I recently had with some people of my generation and younger. It frightens me because of the deceptiveness of the people. They are deceptive because they have been deceived. They do not know how to think and when challenged, their responses sound more like 5 year old kids on the playground than mature adults. I don’t think that this is by accident. This is the process of being taught what to think instead of how to think. I want to help but from the responses, HOW? The really scary part is that as they have kids, they are going to pass this process on to them and it will get worse with each new generation. I have addressed this problem before with voting.

• Are you surprised B. Hussein Obama won, I am not
• More from “Christians” who voted for B. Hussein Obama
• Immigration and the Bible
• Christians and Poverty (social justice)

I want to set the context. Unless you have been living under a rock over the past year, you know of the #blacklivesmatter movement that has swept though social media. It stems from the events of Ferguson Missouri,  New York City, and Baltimore Maryland. The basic agenda is to show that police officers are corrupt and prejudiced toward minorities, specifically African Americans. The premise is that we have a few cases where African Americans have been killed by police officers and they were killed out of spite instead of out of the officers doing their jobs. In MO, the man killed was high on marijuana, had just robbed a convenient store, and was in the process of attacking a police officer when he was fatally shot. In New York, a man was illegally selling cigarettes on the streets, was confronted by the officers and tried to resist arrest. He died in the process. In Baltimore, another criminal died after being arrested. The mantra now is that the most dangerous place for African Americans in the USA is to be in the custody of the police. This is simply not true. I commented on a post about the importance of honoring those who are in authority over us, especially police officers who put their lives on the line to protect and serve all of us, no matter what race we are. Apropos, we are all part of a race, the human race!

So, without further adieu, here is the conversation:

Erik B.

I believe civil disobedience is okay. I have not seen much “civil disobedience” in Ferguson and Baltimore. On another note, I really feel that black on black crime and abortion are much greater dangers to African American life than police officers. I would like to see the same “civil disobedience” against those two societal woes. To me, it seems that the leaders of the end abortion movement are Caucasians, which is in favor or African American babies. In this case, it seems to be that #blacklivesmatter more to the Caucasians than to African Americans. Please don’t take this analysis the wrong way. This is simply my opinion of what I have observed in society. God bless you as you continue to serve Him by investing in the people around you.

#1

Sorry to butt in… But black on black crime and abortions are important issues. Contrary to what you may have seen or experienced, there are MANY black leaders who preach against these issues! But these issues are NOT much greater dangers… The media would love for people to believe that! The recent episodes of police brutality that were fortunate enough to be recorded are just few instances… There are SOOOOOO many other cases that go unheard of, unreported, or covered up! The new generations coming along who have the technology and the bravery to confront and record these issues are revealing what has BEEN going on! This isn’t new!  ALL issues need to be addressed it makes absolutely no sense to say one is worse than the other! You all didn’t disagree! The focus was absolutely redirected to something TOTALLY DIFFERENT! And although all of these issues are important, how can one say one is worse than the other? If that were the case, what about the billion dollar drug industry pushing all of our kids to take these ADHD, ADD, etc pills?? But steady making elementary education tougher all while special education classes are swelling and mental illnesses are spreading!! All of this under a government that says “No child left behind”! But since it’s legal with our government I guess this is of God??? Huh lol smh  I mean there are so many things we can point and say is worse than this and worse than that…. For you to say “the leaders to end abortion are Caucasians and this is in favor of African American babies”, with all due respect shows your ignorance to the African American community! First of all, there ARE many black leaders who endorse and preach pro-life! But you don’t hear about that do you? Hmmm wonder why! …and why is it not in favor to ALL Americans? There’s roughly 70% of other races having abortions… AND…. Have you ever wondered why these rates are much higher in poor minority areas! Issues in our country have a domino effect… But who cares what the underlining causes are right? that’s a whole different convo! But one thing about it… To take an OATH to protect and serve… To put on a uniform that is supposed to represent TRUST and PUBLIC SERVICE gives you a higher responsibility and much more accountability! The same for a Pastor, the President, and other leadership roles!  So in this case… It seems like you are ignorant to the #blacklivesmatter movement! It’s almost like saying the pink ribbon for breast cancer means that all other cancers don’t matter!  I mean What black society have you observed? What black church leaders have u sat under and regularly listened to the message being promoted? What black movement have you been apart of? What poor black neighborhoods have you went and personally spoken to, to get an understanding of our perception??? What are the names of these people? What are their fears? What are their deepest hurts? Simply put… You don’t know what you’re talking about!  And no ur analysis was not taken the wrong way… You’re just like so many other brainwashed ignorant people!

Erik B.

Here are a couple of things I would like to point out. We have recorded evidence of the high amount of black on black crime. We have recorded evidence of the number of African American babies legally aborted annually. As to police killing suspects, we have evidence of the number of African American killed, the number of Hispanics killed, and the number of Caucasians killed. The crux of your argument is the supposed numbers of African Americans who are harassed, killed, threatened etc. by police. I am going to go with the data, not someone’s assumptions. For example, there was an African American gentlemen who assumed that I did not know any African Americans or have much to do with them simply because I am white. That is the problem with assumptions, they are not based on facts and are usually wrong. What is ignorant about looking at actual evidence over hunches and assumptions? I would suggest that the “brainwashed” people are those who ignore the facts and stand firmly on their assumptions.  As to authority, what Hitler did was legal. That did not make it right. According to the Scriptures, we submit to authority as long as that authority is not asking us to act against a clear teaching of the Word of God. Disrespecting those in authority is wrong. Assuming authority figures can be ignored because you assume they are corrupt is also wrong. You can disagree with authority figures without being disrespectful. I never said African American leaders were not prolife. You have made another assumption. Again, I work with African American leaders who are prolife. The fact that the overwhelming majority of African Americans vote democrat baffles me, since it is the democratic party that champions the prochoice movement. Please don’t assume that I feel that everyone should vote republican or that I am a republican. All races have abortions because we all belong to the human race, corrupted by sin nature. Planned Parenthood sets up shop in high minority areas. Again, if #blacklivesmatter, let’s protect them where they are the most vulnerable.  In the Romans 13 passage, if you read carefully, those in authority will have to answer to God for what they did with their position. I will have to answer to God to the way I submitted to that authority. So will you and everyone else.  Again, you assume that I know nothing about black people because I am white. I was a missionary to one of the poorest countries in Europe, a country that has Gypsies, which are considered the trash of society. I worked with all, the homeless, alcoholics, drug addicts etc. Many of their lives were far worse than the worst areas of the USA because of what this country has to offer. Our poor are middle class or higher in most countries in the world.

Now, check out the response to a clearly articulated set of points, a rebuttal to what was written earlier.

#1

Unfortunately I don’t have the time to read ur whole message. But I did see the last paragraph. I didn’t assume that you don’t know anything because you are white. That would be ignorant of me!  I assumed you don’t know because of the FALSE information YOU stated! Respect??? You showed absolutely NO respect! Just because you put it eloquently means nothing! You in so many words said white people care more for black lives than we do! You also said only white people preach pro-life… You also said pol… U know what… Nevermind! Lol there’s no need for me to even waste my time n energy!

Did you notice that the crux of the other person’s debating points is based on assumptions that cannot be proven. These assumptions were obviously engrained in this person’s head. This is a classic case of being taught WHAT to think instead of HOW to think. I wish this were an isolated case, but, unfortunatley, it is not. We have a couple of generations who are like what you have just witnessed.

What is the solution? Followers of Jesus Christ need to be about the business of making disciples, which will teach people how to think instead of what to think. I have hope. I will do my part. God is going to do His part. Will you do your part?