Articles
Open To Everything
In a recent magazine article, pop singer Katy Perry discussed her outlook on life, values and how she has come to examine her world. Some of her observations:
- "I come from a very non-accepting family, but I'm very accepting," Perry says of her current religious beliefs. "Russell [Brand, her husband] is into Hinduism, and I'm not [really] involved in it. He meditates in the morning and the evening; I'm starting to do it more because it really centers me. [But] I just let him be him, and he lets me be me."
- "I've always been the kid who's asked 'Why?' In my faith, you're just supposed to have faith. But I was always like ... why?" she says. "At this point, I'm just kind of a drifter. I'm open to possibility. ... My sponge is so big and wide and I'm soaking everything up and my mind has been radically expanded. Just being around different cultures and people and their opinions and perspectives. Just looking into the sky."
This sort of nonsense is becoming more typical of our society. Having no personal conviction and believing that everything -- no matter how cockamamie -- has some measure of legitimacy or credibility is seen to be "enlightened." Ms. Perry sees her mind as a "sponge," radically expanded by all the views that she has absorbed.
But sponges aren't very discriminating; they soak up whatever liquid they are exposed to -- bleach, acid, contaminated water, etc. Granted, exposure to different cultures is of great value, but we also must have some solid reference points to decide if Hinduism or some other philosophy or religion has true merit.
To just blindly pronounce everything as meritorious is a vacuous approach to life. It is naive, simplistic and, ultimately, confusing. Man-centered religious beliefs and philosophies are contradictory, so eclecticism -- just picking the "best" features of various belief systems -- is like going to the junkyard and gathering scraps of wrecked, rusted vehicles to make a car. Chances are, the parts won't fit.
By contrast, Paul exhorts the Colossians to attain "to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:2-3). Everything that is worth knowing originates with God and Christ -- the last place most seem to want to look.
But Paul follows this exhortation with a warning: “Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. ... Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ" (Col. 2:4, 8).
Ideas that take us away from Christ take us away from true knowledge. This is not blind partisanship. (As Ms. Perry said, "In my faith, you're just supposed to have faith." Apparently her pastor-parents never helped her delve more deeply into the reasons for her faith -- a warning to all Christian parents.)
The only way to "beware" is to compare what we hear to a trustworthy standard, to distinguish the counterfeit from the "real McCoy." "Just looking into the sky" doesn't tell me much about whether I should pin my eternal hopes on reincarnation. It takes strenuous investigation to be able to discriminate between ideas that are substantive and ones that are pure fantasy.
But that kind of investment might interfere with some people's partying.
