Can we talk?

Writers and Other Opinionated People

         Consider the source. I guess we need to remember that all the time.

         I read the current issue of Time and was absolutely depressed. I kept reading to see the cover leads. Life as we know it, and may love it, is over according to these writers. The scientists apply the principles of cells to the nations of the world with authority. One person's personal plight becomes the story for all mankind. I had to spend some time in quiet reflection after I closed the magazine. I gave myself a pep talk. If I swallow everything I read, there would be no hope for the future. Of course, this small magazine is trying to sell copy, so they care less interested in the truth than sensationalism.

         The writers of those mostly short articles are not typical of all U.S. citizens. The magazine presented a very small and eccentric segment of society but did so as though this was the definitive picture of the present and future. Those individuals pretend to have greater insight and understanding than all others. How presumptuous.

         It's taken me a while to get over it, but I know better. The U.S. is not the greatest country on earth because it has cheap food and cheap gas at other countries expense. It can produce its own food, its own gas, and alternative power sources. It is the greatest nation because of its beliefs, because of its self-government, its grass roots strength, its charity, its hope, its promise. That's not going to go away.

         Unlike the writers of this magazine, many people still believe in monogamy, family, church, ethics, and love. Americans and many others still believe in defending the underdog, taking unpopular stands, and working for justice. Just because someone is a celebrity, a published author, or a noted scientist, it does not follow that he or she is the possessor of great truth or wisdom.

         Consider the source. If it goes against what you know to be good, truthful, honest, or have eternal value, it needs to be ignored or disputed.