Occasionally I will engage in debates with others on the Internet about things like politics and theology. I don't do this nearly as often as I used to, but, nonetheless, I still find myself trapped in a dead-end conversation every once in a while. These conversations are rarely informed and are even less often productive. Numerous reasons for this could be listed, but I want to discuss only one: ideology worship--one of the most common forms of idolatry in the Information Age.
What is ideology? The short answer is that an ideology is a system of beliefs. The term usually implies a nearly-immutable set of beliefs that provides the structure whereby data is received and interpreted. Anything can be an ideology. Conservatism is an ideology, but so is liberalism. Theism, in whatever form you find it, is an ideology, but so is atheism. Everyone has some form of ideology. Ideologies vary in rigidity, and some are implicit, but everyone has an ideology by which they live. We all have some framework that guides 1) how we interpret the information we receive and 2) how we apply it to our behavior. Ideology is inescapable. We tend to define ourselves, to one extent or another, by our ideology. I am a Christian. I am a Republican. I am a musician. I am a vegan. You fill in the blank. The more important the subject being addressed, the more demanding our ideology will and should be. Ideologies, much like ogres, have layers. "I am a Christian," for instance, should determine my behavior more than "I am a vegan" (I am not actually a vegan, for the record).
Being ideological, then, is not inherently wrong. People throw that word out there like it's an insult, but it's not. Far from it. If you called me ideological, I'd thank you! What gets us into trouble, however, is when we 1) fail to recognize that we are biased by our ideology; 2) idolize our ideology; and, therefore, 3) allow our ideology to blind us to obvious fallacies in our logic. It is unavoidable to be 100% objective. No one can expect that from anyone else because none of us can possibly achieve it personally. I don't even know if it's ideal to do so, but that's another discussion altogether. The first step to processing information honestly is to admit our bias, not deny that it exists.
Ideology moves to idolatry when we allow it to define us and guide us rather than what that ideology affirms. Let me explain. I am a Christian. That means that I believe in and worship Jesus Christ. He is my Lord and Savior, and that should and will affect my life. Ideology becomes idolatry when I begin to worship Christianity instead of Christ. I worship my ideology I do whatever Christianity, whatever institution or tradition that implies, says, even if it contradicts what Christ said and did. When I allow dogma to overrule Jesus, I have committed idolatry. Let's take another example: conservativism. I consider myself a conservative, generally speaking. By that I mean that I generally agree with conservative political policies and morality. Ideology becomes idolatry when being a conservative is more important than actually following any of the policies that conservatives supposedly espouse (not to mention when being a conservative is more important than being a Christian or [fill in the blank]). When I vote for a conservative despite the fact that he is immoral, impudent, and immature, I have idolized conservativism. When I'm okay with raising the debt ceiling again because a conservative does it, but I railed against Obama when he did it, conservatism is more important to me than the truths that comprise conservatism.
Why do we this? Well, we like to feel smart. We like to have things black and white (gray areas are scary). We want to have an answer to every question because we don't want to have to think things through situationally. We prefer a system that divides all of life's issues into neatly arranged categories from which we can choose. As a result, any ideas that require us to think outside of those lines are categorically rejected. This may be the path of simplicity, but it is not the path to truth and/or peaceful coexistence. Anyone who has all the answers simply doesn't know the right questions to ask.
So, if we're all going to be ideological, what do we do? For starters, we can stop arguing on the Internet. Iron sharpens iron, to be sure, but the Internet is rarely a good place for that sort of thing. Secondly, whenever we do argue on the Internet (let's be honest, we're going to), we must be willing to admit to ourselves that we are approaching the issue with at least some bias and that we are not really considering the position of our opponents with a 100% open mind. Admitting that to yourself will render pointless such debates. Finally, we need to ask ourselves what's more important to us: our ideology or the truths it claims. The first is hypothetical. The second is real life. The first is easy. The second is difficult. Do we worship God or theology? Do we love liberty and freedom, or do we love American conservatism? You fill in the blank with your ideology and ask yourself that difficult question. Are we ideologues or are we idolaters?
What is ideology? The short answer is that an ideology is a system of beliefs. The term usually implies a nearly-immutable set of beliefs that provides the structure whereby data is received and interpreted. Anything can be an ideology. Conservatism is an ideology, but so is liberalism. Theism, in whatever form you find it, is an ideology, but so is atheism. Everyone has some form of ideology. Ideologies vary in rigidity, and some are implicit, but everyone has an ideology by which they live. We all have some framework that guides 1) how we interpret the information we receive and 2) how we apply it to our behavior. Ideology is inescapable. We tend to define ourselves, to one extent or another, by our ideology. I am a Christian. I am a Republican. I am a musician. I am a vegan. You fill in the blank. The more important the subject being addressed, the more demanding our ideology will and should be. Ideologies, much like ogres, have layers. "I am a Christian," for instance, should determine my behavior more than "I am a vegan" (I am not actually a vegan, for the record).
Being ideological, then, is not inherently wrong. People throw that word out there like it's an insult, but it's not. Far from it. If you called me ideological, I'd thank you! What gets us into trouble, however, is when we 1) fail to recognize that we are biased by our ideology; 2) idolize our ideology; and, therefore, 3) allow our ideology to blind us to obvious fallacies in our logic. It is unavoidable to be 100% objective. No one can expect that from anyone else because none of us can possibly achieve it personally. I don't even know if it's ideal to do so, but that's another discussion altogether. The first step to processing information honestly is to admit our bias, not deny that it exists.
Ideology moves to idolatry when we allow it to define us and guide us rather than what that ideology affirms. Let me explain. I am a Christian. That means that I believe in and worship Jesus Christ. He is my Lord and Savior, and that should and will affect my life. Ideology becomes idolatry when I begin to worship Christianity instead of Christ. I worship my ideology I do whatever Christianity, whatever institution or tradition that implies, says, even if it contradicts what Christ said and did. When I allow dogma to overrule Jesus, I have committed idolatry. Let's take another example: conservativism. I consider myself a conservative, generally speaking. By that I mean that I generally agree with conservative political policies and morality. Ideology becomes idolatry when being a conservative is more important than actually following any of the policies that conservatives supposedly espouse (not to mention when being a conservative is more important than being a Christian or [fill in the blank]). When I vote for a conservative despite the fact that he is immoral, impudent, and immature, I have idolized conservativism. When I'm okay with raising the debt ceiling again because a conservative does it, but I railed against Obama when he did it, conservatism is more important to me than the truths that comprise conservatism.
Why do we this? Well, we like to feel smart. We like to have things black and white (gray areas are scary). We want to have an answer to every question because we don't want to have to think things through situationally. We prefer a system that divides all of life's issues into neatly arranged categories from which we can choose. As a result, any ideas that require us to think outside of those lines are categorically rejected. This may be the path of simplicity, but it is not the path to truth and/or peaceful coexistence. Anyone who has all the answers simply doesn't know the right questions to ask.
So, if we're all going to be ideological, what do we do? For starters, we can stop arguing on the Internet. Iron sharpens iron, to be sure, but the Internet is rarely a good place for that sort of thing. Secondly, whenever we do argue on the Internet (let's be honest, we're going to), we must be willing to admit to ourselves that we are approaching the issue with at least some bias and that we are not really considering the position of our opponents with a 100% open mind. Admitting that to yourself will render pointless such debates. Finally, we need to ask ourselves what's more important to us: our ideology or the truths it claims. The first is hypothetical. The second is real life. The first is easy. The second is difficult. Do we worship God or theology? Do we love liberty and freedom, or do we love American conservatism? You fill in the blank with your ideology and ask yourself that difficult question. Are we ideologues or are we idolaters?
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