“Open mindedness should never be confused with empty mindedness. One can never remain open to a second alternative when only one can be true.”
~Anonymous

It’s amazing how open mindedness has become such an admirable trait in today’s society while closed or narrow mindedness can be used as the harshest of criticisms. It’s become an acceptable “truth” to say that there are no universal or absolute truths, and anyone who argues otherwise is labeled “ignorant” and “close minded”. I disagree. I think what our society is missing is the ability to reason and logically tackle their pre-formed opinions.

If you read my blog a while ago, you will know my beliefs towards absolute truths. Not only do I believe they exist, but I believe the concept of “Subjective Truth” to be logically impossible. When someone says “there are no absolute truths” they are in fact using an absolute statement and are contradicting themselves. When someone says “there are no absolute truths” you should hear “there are no absolute truths except for the absolute truth that there are no absolute truths”. That doesn’t work and the list of “exceptions” keeps growing (notice there are now 2 absolute statements in the italicized sentence). In fact, the laws of logic are just that: absolute. It’s kind of like the laws of nature. They are absolute. Regardless of how badly you want to step off of the cliff and walk on air, you won’t. You will fall. There are some truths you cannot simply wish out of existence. I echo the pondering of Professor Diggory in C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, “what do they teach children in school these days?”

But does this belief in absolute truth make me narrow minded? No. In fact, I think it makes people more aware of reality and their role within it. However, as a Christian, I think it is very easy to call me ignorant and move on to a more interesting blog. And I don’t really blame you because many Christians can come across as ignorant and judgemental and just plain scared of the world at large. I pray that I don’t come across that way and I hope that you will read what I have to say.

First of all, to believe in one thing you cannot then be “open” to a second, contradictory belief. I believe in the Bible, therefore I don’t believe in other religions that contradict what is in the Bible. That is not closed mindedness. That is just wise. Even the people who are of other religions cannot believe what is in the Bible because it is contradictory to what they believe to be true. To hold the stance that “all is truth” is a very unwise and a precarious place to be. G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “Those who stand for nothing fall for anything”. Regardless of what your faith is, it provides a foundation, or a window, if you will. The ability to see the world through a certain lens..and everyone sees the world in some way and through some sort of lens. The difficulty lies in picking which lens shows the world in the most real way.

So to choose the “Christian lens” means I’m ignorant? It means that I don’t know what is really “out there” or I use it as an “opiate”? No it should not mean that (too often it does). To be a Christian means to accept the entire Bible as the Word of God and not only believe, but apply it to our lives. This means that I have to agree with and practice 1 Thessalonians 5:21, “Test everything. Hold on to what is good.”

It is true that some people, some Christians included, are scared of differing opinions, but Christians are ordered to “test everything”. Yet when we determine that we don’t agree with something, it is not close mindedness. We have considered it and found that it doesn’t align with what we already believe to be true. Would you consider your anatomy professor telling you that the heart does not digest food to be close minded? No. I’d consider him to be educated. Even Aristotle said, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain an idea without accepting it.” There is a difference between believing what we want to and believing what we should. Don’t make the mistake of confusing the two.

An “open mind”, as it is praised in today’s post-modern culture, is a dangerous state of being. Without the ability to discern and dispose, our minds are empty. You will be confronted with ideals, beliefs, and religions. Remember to test them all.  Remember that there is truth. And most importantly, remember that if you stand for nothing you will fall for anything. With that thought, I’m happy to be considered “narrow minded”.