Well my most recent reading binge is about curriculum development and teaching thinking strategies (over the summer I read about homeschooling, teaching reading, community development, infant care and a few other random topics). Actually, when I go on a reading binge it is normally because I am looking for something and I am failing to go to God with it. It's a very discrete way of running from God. I can find nice ways to talk about it and it seems pretty innocent - but it's still sin!
God has convicted me more than once about our bibliophile house and my reading binges. The tree Adam and Eve were supposed to avoid was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Well, I think I try to eat from that tree a lot. In part because our culture feeds us that knowledge is the answer, it is power. I have seen kids do whole skits and sing songs about knowledge being power. The old equation was land=money=power, today it is more like knowledge=money= power, especially in this new century (one reading binge was about knowledge management - a very interesting concept). But, it's not power intended for us to consume and use as we please. In fact, the way I approach it and the way our culture uses it I think it might have another name - IDOL!
Ouch! But isn't it a good thing to want to know things, isn't it helpful. Well it is - but often my knowledge binges lead me further from the truth of God's word and out into the murky waters of relativism. The other day on PBS they were showing a program talking about how scientists are trying to thread electrical impulses directly into the brain to control thoughts. Wow! This is a technical innovation but it also sounds like brainwashing in a very frightening way to me - where are the limits of science? At this point I told my husband that our kiddo needs a good dose of ethics if he's going to become a scientist - murky waters I tell ya.
So I guess the question I grapple with is how, as a Christian, do I deal with the overwhelming amount of knowledge available to us while still staying connected to Christ? How do I make sure that I have a foundation in stone, not the sand? How do we help our children in a "knowledge economy" without making it an idol in their lives? We'll continue to talk about this - right now I'm just starting to wonder about this.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Knowledge is Power??
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
As usual, you've got me thinking. I'm currently reading Rabbi Harold Kushner's How Good Do We Have To Be?, which has some interesting things to say about the Eden story. Not sure I totally agree with all of them, but I do think they're worth considering.
I'm not sure that curiosity and a thirst for knowledge necessarily leads a person away from God's word and toward relativism--obviously, I can't speak for your experience, but I do believe that questioning one's own beliefs and one's own knowledge is healthy, as is measuring new knowledge against God's standards. It's not the thinking new things or considering new ideas that's bad; it's accepting ones that fail to stand under scrutiny. I think this type of pursuit of knowledge is included in the commandment to love God with all one's heart, mind, and strength.
I wonder, too, about how we define relativism. At some point, yes, it is a bad thing. But I wonder if we too often dismiss humility about ideas--acknowledging that we may be mistaken in part or in whole about an idea--as relativism because it's too difficult or scary or dangerous.
Anyway, just some thoughts.
Post a Comment