A Critique of American Spirituality

When it comes to dealing with issues of ultimate importance, a great bulk of American society consists of people who want to be pampered: they don't want to be challenged, and they can't handle truth claims. Many people will settle for any excuse, no matter how lame, to disengage their minds from certain issues (to read A Critique of Ten Reasons Given for Why People Do Not Want to Discuss the MEGAQUESTIONS, click here). Even many who are involved in a religion of some kind will use their involvement as an excuse to promptly disengage their minds from such issues. Whatever the case, many will often arrogantly claim that such things are not relevant to their lives, and perhaps convince themselves that they are "good enough" to qualify for some kind of eternal blessing. Many presume that they can simply rely upon their own personal judgment in determining what is acceptable before a God they do not know, and fool themselves into thinking that they are safe, when in fact they may not be. Many completely shut down their minds when confronted with the idea that they have a desperate need to be reconciled to a holy God who will enforce an eternal penalty for every evil thought, word, and deed. Many live as if they will be able to avoid any accountability for their lives by not thinking about it. On a spiritual level, America is largely a sea of mindlessness.

Why do we have this state of affairs? We can definitely find reasons for this in human terms. Mindlessness is often portrayed as an answer to the difficult issues in life. It allows one to concentrate on pursuing other things and in setting one's own agenda in the first place. It is an apparent, and only temporary, escape from those nagging questions. It also apparently allows people to avoid heated arguments.

These reasons, however, cannot justify mindlessness. They are only short-term fixes at best and do not solve anything in the long run. Although engaging our minds on matters of ultimate importance does not guarantee that we will have 100% agreement on all issues, a fear of disagreement is not a valid reason to refuse to even begin. Neither is a fear of heated arguments, for they are the result of faulty communication, not the subject matter. If important, beneficial, and ultimate truth exists, we have everything to gain by seeking it out, especially if short-term risks are insignificant in comparison.