Ignorance is Not Bliss

One of my favorite movies and stories I have is A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens. Near the end of Stave III Scrooge is with the ghost of Christmas present. At this time he commands Scrooge to behold two wretches that cling to the ghost. "This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased."

We live in a society here in North America that has so much, that it wants and craves all things, all the time. We want to be entertained. We want riches, and more of them. We want people to like us. We want, want, want all the time. But, our desires are only a part of our malady. We are, for the most part, ignorant. In the biblical book of Proverbs we hear of a wicked people who only think of them selves in Chapter 30 verses 11-14 "There is a generation that curses its father, and does not bless its mother. There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not washed from its filthiness. There is a generation-oh how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, and whose fangs are like knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men." 

This verse speaks of a people that are self-absorbed. I think many of the worst prejudices in history can be traced to ignorance of fellow man. Would we have had the cruelty of slavery if the owners saw the slaves as people? Would we need unions if employers treated all their employees as they would like to be treated? There is a great shield in not knowing. Then what is wrong is not really my fault. I just didn't know the evil existed. The slaughter of millions of innocents during World War 2, and its after math canned be summed up in a handful of excuses like "He didn't seem like a mad man to us." or "We were destroying the enemies ability and morale in order to stop the war." or the ultimate excuse of "I was only following orders." Excuses hide us, but ignorance denies the problem exists.

What about the very rich versus the very poor? That was part of the point of "A Christmas Carol", to show the humanity of the poor and the often lost opportunities of the rich to help their fellow man. I think that is one of the draws of shows like "Undercover Boss". The barriers of ignorance are removed and people see each other as human beings. Jesus destroyed the concept of having to be rich to enter heaven. We are all in need of a spiritual physician, rich or poor, healthy or sick, beautiful or beastly, all of us need a savior. Not everyone was comfortable with this thought.

Of course, all that I am writing about isn't new. In his book "The Irresistible Revolution" Shane Claiborne does a much better job of bringing the point home that "...when the poor meet the rich, riches will have no meaning. And when the rich meet the poor, we will see poverty come to an end."

 

In my own life God has delivered me from a number of prejudices. How have these deliverance's happened you ask? Was there some fantastical demonic expulsion? No. Was there some paradigm shifting light bulb moment? No. Did I hear an audible voice from God saying "That's stinking thinking!" No. I was simply exposed to the people I disliked, and even hated. I was once very opposed to immigration and the idea of  catering to visible minorities, like Sikhs or Muslims. While away at an Air Cadet camp my bunk mate just happened to be a Sikh who taught me about himself and his people. I have met people from many religions and discovered that they weren't fanatics or hypocrites, they were just people. Even amongst Christianity I have  had some crust removed; like how I loathed people who I saw as religious. I was a young Christian from a non-denominational church, so any one belonging to a denomination must have been spiritually slow, that is until I met Christians with immense grace and maturity from many other groups of churches.  Now, I know that the body of Christ is much more vast and includes all kinds to make up a beautiful mosaic.

The same goes for people with political affiliations. Let's face it Religion and Politics are generally hands-off subjects. Since I've already touched on religion, let's move on to politics. I became very wary of certain political views in high school mostly because some of my teachers were leading many of the students with their teaching. I can't blame them, now, for adding their own two cents into the curriculum, to make some more protesters flock against the evils of  Conservatism. These teachers turned me off, and I also began to condemn all unions and socialists for their 'childish' rants against the injustices they saw being carried out, which I clearly did not see. Since that time, I have been able to meet several socially active people, and see the need for people who care enough to stand up for what is decent and right. I have met some of the peopIe in need, and those who were being abused. I also have been part of a union, and have met many different people in that movement and appreciate the role that organized labour has played in developing our nation. I am pleased when there is an array of parties representing in Ottawa or our provincial legislature, because more ideas and points of view can create a great government. That is when parties aren't too focused on their own agendas.

I guess I'd like to finish of with a final thought. Ignorance is not bliss. In fact, ignoring others is most often caused by our unrelenting focus on ourselves. That isolation is what leads us down a path of destruction, the doom of mankind, known as sin. I challenge you to look at others with eyes that see, and ears that hear.