Keeping an Open Mind

I'd like to file this under "keeping an open mind."  Please follow me on this... this article is a very worthwhile read from Angelus News columnist Robert Brennan.  Now I have in the past not agreed with Mr. Brennan on a number of topics, and have at times referred to him as my arch-nemesis (although I'm not sure that can count since he has no idea who I am).  So even though I may not always agree with Mr. Brennan, in this case, as something of a Methuselah myself these days, this particular column provides some very thought provoking insight.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that whenever I read one of Mr. Brennan's columns, it always provides some thought-provoking insight.  Just because I don't normally agree with his views does not mean his work isn't worth reading.  And that opens me up to an even bigger concern - our need to be open-minded.  Being open-minded is not something you see a lot these days.  Our media has subdivided itself into political and philosophical camps where one side does not mix with the other side.  Even worse, political and philosophical views have become entrenched, even extremist - the exact opposite of being open-minded.  This is bad for us personally and as a society.  We need to be able to allow ourselves to become swayed by someone else's arguments or points of view.  When we do this, one of two things can happen - we give ourselves permission to be persuaded by their views, or we give ourselves the opportunity to justify our own views if they differ.  Either way, a mental process is happening that is the mark of a mind at work - in Catholicism we call this an "informed conscience."
 

When I started at university some 40 years ago, our professors and instructors taught us that "university" was "an open forum."  That means that any idea can be brought to the table.  Those that passed sufficient academic rigor were accepted.  Those that could not would fail.  And since this was a polytechnic university with the motto of "we learn by doing," there was plenty of room for differing ideas to come to the table to be tested by experience and data and due-process.  Unfortunately that understanding of university has been lost over the past 20-30 years, replaced with ideological doctrine over open-mindedness.  This has lead to new colleges and universities opening so that they can teach their view, their doctrine absent of academic rigor.  These people, whether on the right or on the left, would rather have universities become factories of indoctrination and group-think rather than the free-thinking, open-minded and academically tested bastions of learning that they once were, open forums that allow students to make up their own minds - to form their own consciences, following tried and true methods of academic and scientific rigor.  And most importantly, understanding that people can have a difference of opinion while still respecting each other.
 

Why is open-mindedness so important?  Because it leads to cooperation.  At best it leads to consensus, or at worse, compromise, but at least things get done.  Society (and most definitely our government) is being handicapped by intransigence and ideological extremism.  Governing has become a blood-sport.  Family and personal relations have divided into camps.  This is not why our Lord came to save us.
 

So going back to Mr. Brennan's column, we can draw a cord of hope - that even though not everyone celebrates Christmas as we Catholics do, that there is still that spark of knowing that Jesus came into this world to safe this world, and that perhaps, loving God and loving each other is the best way to bring the about the Kingdom.