Looking Outside the Doors

A Film You Might Have Missed: God Grew Tired of Us (2006)

2009-11-16T04:39:00.000-08:00

A few months back I was talking to a guy from my church about films, documentaries in particular. He recommended that I see a documentary called God Grew Tired of Us. I thought that, if nothing else, it was an interesting title.

The film (directed by Christopher Quinn and narrated by Nicole Kidman) tells the larger story of southern Sudanese Christians who were driven out of their country by northern Sudan's Muslim Arabs during the second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005). Thousands of refugees walked over 1,000 miles to northern Kenya for sanctuary, where their hollow, emaciated bodies sought food and shelter. (I warn you: the footage in this section is graphic.) Relief does come to many; several of these "Lost Boys" are given an opportunity to go to America where they might work to rescue those of their families who remain behind.

Yet the smaller story of three of these boys (men by this time) is the main focus of the film. Daniel Abol Pach and Panther Bior get placed in Pittsburgh, John Bul Dau in Syracuse, NY. While in America, they will have to earn enough money to first pay for their airfare to America before they can help support their families.

From this point, God Grew Tired of Us becomes a multifaceted film that touches on themes of joy, cultural confusion, adjustment, loneliness, striving, unrest and hope. These men have no idea how to react to American culture. Some of them have never even experienced electricity. Without realizing it, the men point out some of the less attractive aspects of American culture. After one year in America, Panther comments, "In the United States, people are not friendly. You can find someone that's walking in the street by himself, you know, don't even talk, you know. You cannot go to the house of somebody you don't know, though you are all Americans. They call the police and say, 'why did this guy come to my house? I don't know him." In one of the film's most telling scenes, John looks in wonder at all the Christmas lights, Christmas trees, all the signs of commercialism and says (paraphrase), "There are so many ways to celebrate Christmas here... All our people have is Jesus Christ."

The camera follows these men for three years during which time they work two or three jobs so they can send money home. It doesn't take long for them to understand that people working minimum wage jobs can't get very far. In one scene, John sits down, tired from all his work, and reflects on what life was like during the genocide in Sudan. He's clearly thankful for his new life in America, but longs to see his family again. He realizes that because of the genocide (which at this point is still going on), this may never happen. When he was a boy of thirteen in Sudan, one of his jobs was burying the bodies of the slaughtered. "I began to think," John reflects, "that God had given up on us."

God Grew Tired of Us shows us all the things we take for granted as Americans. It shows us what it's really like to be a stranger in a strange land. And it shows us the lengths that some people will go to in order to provide for the ones they love. I don't want to tell you too much more; I'd rather you see the film for yourself. Be prepared for an incredible experience.

World of Faith and Freedom (NF 2008) - Thomas F. Farr

2009-08-19T05:49:00.000-07:00

World of Faith and Freedom: Why International Religious Liberty is Vital to American National Security (NF 2008) - Thomas F. Farr (Hardcover, 384 pages, $29.95, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195179958) Available in stores, online, and on the Amazon Kindle.

The concepts of democracy and religious liberty are closely tied to our nation’s history, yet the State Department has largely left religion out in matters of U.S. foreign policy. Veteran State Department officer Thomas F. Farr’s book World of Faith and Freedom explains why and argues that religious freedom should be an indispensable element of our foreign policy.

Keith Pavlischek, Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center (and member of SPEP) has written an excellent review of Farr’s book. His review, originally published in Touchstone Magazine, can be found here.

Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town (2009) - Warren St. John

2009-07-11T05:08:00.000-07:00

Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town (NF 2009) Warren St. John (Hardcover, 320 pages, $24.95, Spiegel & Grau, ISBN 9780385522038) Available in stores, online, and on the Amazon Kindle.

What’s this? A book about soccer for this month’s book recommendation? Maybe I’ve been hanging out too much with Trip? Allow me to explain: Several of my friends (including Trip) are passionate about soccer. Since they’re my friends, and friends typically want you to share in their interests, they’ve tried to engage me in a love for soccer, alas, to no avail. So when I tell them I’ve just read this great book and that it’s a book about soccer, they’re quite skeptical.

I don’t blame them, especially since I’m still not that interested in soccer. But I am interested in people, particularly people from different cultures. I’m interested in how we all try (and mostly fail) to understand each other. Outcasts United is a book I care about because it forces us to deal with these issues on both microscopic and global levels.

Outcasts United is the story of the Fugees from Clarkston, Georgia, a soccer team (actually three teams of varying ages) made up of refugees from such war-raved countries as Liberia, Sudan, Congo, Burundi, Somalia, Ethiopia...and those are just the African countries. It’s also the story of how a small Southern town handles the mixing of cultures into their small corner of the world. It’s a fascinating study of culture. The book is certainly making me examine my own reactions to people of different cultures. “What if all these people from different countries moved into my community? Would I be welcoming or fearful?”

Take that a step further. Would I be willing to share my faith with people from other cultures? Or try to understand theirs? Would I be willing to invite them to church? Even on a more fundamental level, would I be willing to simply talk with them? Or would I give in to local peer pressure and just ignore them?

It is impossible to read this book and not take a look at yourself. This is not a “Christian” book, per se, but it is a book Christians should read. Why? Because the Global Community is here and it can’t be ignored (nor should it be). Outcasts United is an engaging, humorous, sometimes sad, and often thrilling look at the challenges of living in that Global Community.

The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith (NF 2008) - Tim Keller

2009-06-19T07:03:00.000-07:00

The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith (2008) - Timothy Keller (Hardcover, 160 pages, $19.95, Dutton, ISBN 978-0525950790) Available in stores and online.

At first glance you might think this thin volume from Tim Keller (pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City) would have more to do with spiritual growth than with culture, but the book provides plenty of richness in both areas. The Parable of the Prodigal Son is familiar to millions of Christians, but Keller expounds the Luke 15 text to show that this isn't just the story of the prodigal son. There's much more to it. (And what about the book's title? The Prodigal God? You'll have to read the book!)

Keller challenges both our spiritual and cultural assumptions of how we should look at God the Father and the ways we seek (or fail to seek) Him. When hearing this parable, we typically dwell more on the prodigal than the elder brother who did not rebel. But, says Keller, each represents a different way to be alienated from God.

But wait a minute! Wasn't the elder brother who stayed with his father more obedient? As Keller shows from Scripture, the two brothers are more alike than they first appear.

This is a fascinating, convicting, comforting and biblical look at a familiar text. The Prodigal God is a great book for private devotionals, group studies or discussion groups. Highly recommended.

Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be (NF 2008)

2009-05-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

Why We’re Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be (NF 2008) - Kevin DeYoung & Ted Kluck (Trade paperback, 256 pages, $14.99, Moody Publishing, ISBN 9780802458346) Available in stores and online.

Maybe you’ve heard of the emergent movement in Christian circles. Or maybe you haven’t, but have heard of some of its people. Names like Rob Bell (author of Velvet Elvis), Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz), Brian McLaren (The Secret Message of Jesus) and others crop up in discussions of emergent leaders. Authors Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck are not emergent and although they see much good in the movement, they also see much danger.

The good comes in what the authors believe to be a genuine attempt by the emergent church to reach the lost. The bad comes in the form of their theology. It seems many emergents are seeking to reach unbelievers by convincing them that Christians and non-Christians alike are all on a sort of mysterious spiritual journey to discover God. That might sound like a noble effort, but too many emergents convey the idea that they’re searching for God without having found any answers and without the authority of God’s word.

DeYoung (senior pastor at University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan) and Kluck (a writer for many sports venues including ESPN the Magazine) could both easily be mistaken for emergents. They’re thoughtful, young, and seeking to engage the diversity of our culture for Christ. Yet they’re not emergent. By a careful examination of Scripture and emergent theology, the authors show why they aren’t emergent...and why we shouldn’t be, either.

DeYoung’s chapters are somewhat academic (but very readable), closely examining the theological aspects and deficiencies of the emergent movement, while Kluck’s are more personable, reminiscent of a conversation you might have with a good friend. The combination of styles works well, giving the book a broader scope and depth than perhaps could have been achieved by a single author. For anyone who wants to know what the emergent church is all about, or for anyone who wants to engage the culture in a biblical manner, Why We’re Not Emergent is an excellent book.

Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex is Affecting Our Children (NF 2008)

2009-04-08T05:49:00.000-07:00

Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex is Affecting Our Children (NF 2008) - Joe S. McIlhaney, Jr., MD and Freda McKissic Bush, MD (Hardcover, $17.99, Northfield Publishing, ISBN 978-0-8024-5060-9) - Available in stores and online.

Our culture tends to think of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) as the major risks involved with casual sex. After all, we constantly hear the stories, read the statistics and see the results of such a lifestyle. Yet now, breakthroughs in neuroscience have uncovered new information based on studies of brain function and sexual activity. This information could help us gain a better understanding of exactly what happens in the brain during sex.

Even if you’ve taken measures to practice “safe sex,” there’s one area you can’t protect: the brain. Doctors McIlhaney and McKissic give scientific evidence showing that when we engage in sex (or even prolonged close physical contact), chemicals are released in our brains, “telling” us that we’re forming not only a strong physical bond, but an extremely powerful emotional one.

When we break up with someone with whom we’ve had such strong physical and emotional connections (even briefly), those chemical bonds are severed, resulting in painful emotions. It’s like our brains have been short-circuited. Add to this already painful situation the fact that that our brains are not fully molded until we’re in our twenties, and you’ve got a situation that can lead to emotional devastation.

Hooked relies heavily on science, but the science is presented mostly in layman’s terms with a minimum of technical jargon. (Although anyone interested in learning more about the scientific aspects of the book can consult the plethora of sources in the Notes section.) The authors never specifically mention Christianity or faith (although I have seen the book in Christian bookstores), yet frequently touch on questions of morality. As far as I can tell, the authors are simply two scientists concerned with shedding new light on a topic that is both fascinating and crucial.

Hooked is a relatively short book (143 pages of text) and fairly easy to read, in spite of some brief scientific passages. Highly recommended.

The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment - Tim Challies

2009-03-25T05:39:00.000-07:00

The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment (2007, Crossway Books) - Tim Challies, trade paperback, 206 pages including study questions, index, Scripture index).

Challies, a self-employed web designer, is the editor of a website and blog called Discerning Reader. His site is always filled with valuable, well-written topics of value to Christians, but his book on spiritual discernment is a gold mine.

It may appear odd that Challies begins with a story about counterfeit currency during World War II, but the illustration is a perfect introduction to a book on spiritual discernment. Many Christians often think they know the difference between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, good and evil, but without spiritual discernment you might as well be trying to provide for your family with fake money. Says Challies, “Scripture makes it plain: if you are not a person who exhibits and exercises discernment you are not a mature Christian.”

Make no mistake, Challies isn’t here to spiritually beat us up, but rather to challenge Christians to practice biblical discernment in every aspect of life. The author believes that discernment is both a gift (1 Cor. 12:4-7) and a responsibility (1 John 4:1). Some may have stronger gifts of discernment than others, but everyone can learn to be more discerning.

Practicing discernment has become a difficult task in our current culture, chiefly due to a dominant secular worldview as well as low views of Scripture, theology and God. I value this book not only as a call to personal spiritual growth, but also as a way to examine our culture.

The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment takes the reader on a full-scale, yet highly readable journey through all aspects of biblical spiritual discernment: its definition, uses, practices, and yes, even its dangers. Each well-constructed chapter builds on a solid foundation of Scripture. I’ve encountered very few books this concise and yet this thorough. Challies is an excellent writer who has given Christians a book we really can’t afford not to read.

Logged On and Tuned Out (NF 2007) - Vicki Courtney

2009-02-12T16:19:00.000-08:00

(Thanks to M. Prince for letting me know about this book!)

Logged On and Tuned Out: A Non-Techie's Guide to Parenting a Tech-Savvy Generation by Vicki Courtney is a short (197 pages including appendix and notes), easy-to-read introduction to the potentially widening gap that can exist between parents and their children as far as tech is concerned. As an introduction, the book is a good starting point, but concerned parents will want to know more.

Courtney, mother of three and founder of Virtuous Reality Ministries, relates in the book how little she knew about the tech world just a few short years ago. She's not alone. Many parents have absolutely no clue as to what's really happening on the Internet, the things you can do with cell phones, and the dangerous implications of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. If you're such a parent who's just coming to the cyber-table feeling just a little bit overwhelmed, this book is essential reading. Courtney will introduce readers not only to the fundamentals of Internet and cell phone technology, but more importantly how kids are using (and abusing) that technology.

In an informational book such as this, it's hard for writers not to tell us, "This is what I did to address this problem..." The problem is not only that Courtney's solutions may not work for you, but also that her relationship with her kids may not equal your relationship with your own kids.

And that's one of the biggest problems facing anyone reading the book, one that's not necessarily Courtney's (or the book's) fault: Before reading very far into Logged On and Tuned Out, you must examine the relationship you already have with your kids. This book isn't going to magically fix your child's cyber-problems if there are already underlying problems going on, mainly problems of communication and trust. Just read the book with that in mind. Remember, your success implementing the ideas in the book will depend largely on the relationships you already have with the members of your family.

I wished Courtney had discussed more of a progression of solutions. She doesn't say that Internet monitoring software is the only way to protect your children from the dangers of the Internet, but she sure gives it a lot of weight. I would have preferred more options, such as maybe placing the computer in central area such as the living room or kitchen where Internet activity can't be easily hidden.

Courtney does a pretty good job of describing some of the consequences of bad judgment via social networking pages, posting inappropriate photos and chatting online to strangers, but I fear some parents still may come away thinking, "Well, my child would never do such a thing!" Think again. I was hoping Courtney would give even more hard-hitting examples (especially in the area of cyber-bullying and cyber-stalking) than she did.

I do recommend Logged On and Tuned Out, but only as a starting point. Read it, then do some research yourself, spend some time Googling some of the topics you read in the book, talk with your youth ministry leaders and other parents. Reading just one book won't make you an expert in parenting a tech-savvy youth, but at least it's a step in the right direction.

The Year's Best Books on Culture

2008-12-12T16:14:00.000-08:00

I should qualify this post by saying that not all of these books were published in 2008, although quite a few of them were. These were the eleven books that I found most significant and/or interesting that related in some way to culture. I hope you'll find them as interesting and thought-provoking as I did. (The order listed is simply the order in which I read them.)

Hurt: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers (2004) – Chap Clark

You could almost call this an academic study. This is no lightweight book; Clark has done his research. You may not agree with it, you may not like it, but you can't ignore what he has to say about youth culture, how it got where it is and where it's headed. A must-read for teachers, parents or anyone else who spends time around teens.

The Dangerous Act of Worship (2007) – Mark Labberton

Labberton calls Christians to extend their worship of God beyond the worship service, beyond the walls that separate us from the homeless, the heart-broken, the needy - the people we either can't or don't want to see in our lives. A very bold, convicting book. (This is also the book that really got me into a serious study of culture, so blame Labberton!)

Islam at the Crossroads: Understanding Its Beliefs, History, and Conflicts (2002) - Paul Marshall, Roberta Green and Lela Gilber

Islam: The Religion and the People (2008) - Bernard Lewis, Buntzie Ellis Churchill

I highly recommend both of these books to anyone seeking to understand the Islamic faith and culture.

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (1985, 2005 reprint) - Neil Postman

Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing the Truth about the American Voter (2008) - Rick Shenkman

Another two books that could be read together. It doesn't matter that Postman's book was first published over twenty years ago. Neither does it matter that the presidential election is over. Both Postman and Shenkman have plenty to tell us if we're willing to listen.

Healing for a Broken World: Christian Perspectives on Public Policy (2008) - Steve Monsma

This book was responsible for many excellent (and sometimes heated!) discussions in a recent Sunday School class. If you missed the class and enjoy lots of food for thought, pick up Monsma's book.

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (2008) - Timothy Keller

In the late 1980s, Keller started Redeemer Presbyterian Church in the heart of Manhattan. He's heard every argument from every type of skeptic of Christianity and knows how to answer them. An exceptional book that any Christian interested in culture should read.

Everyday Apocalypse: The Sacred Revealed in Radiohead, The Simpsons and Other Pop Culture Icons (2002) - David Dark

Okay, I don't expect everyone to get as jazzed about this one as I did, but if you're into the arts, you should consider reading it. I know, it's a stretch to think that there are Christian principles in The Simpsons, but read with an open mind. You might be surprised.

Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations (2008) - Alex & Brett Harris

Teenagers (and brothers) Alex and Brett Harris don't believe teens are challenged enough by adults. Even worse, with adult expectations so low, many teens see no reason to rise above those expectations. Alex and Brett are out to change all that. Although the book is written for a young adult audience, adults will want to read it too.

Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Callling (2008) - Andy Crouch

Crouch has tackled a monumental task head-on: analyzing the culture and examining how Christians can make a real difference. An absolute must-read.

Culture Center Meeting

2008-08-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

Here’s a brief overview of what was discussed at the “Introduction to the Culture Center” on August 17:

Lately we’re been hearing a good bit from the pulpit about the Great Commission and the Cultural Mandate. What we’ve come to call the Great Commission is found in Matthew 28:19-20:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

The Cultural Mandate is found in Genesis 1:26-28:

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

The Great Commission tells us to make disciples of the nations. The responsibility to do this rests primarily with the church in preaching the gospel and equipping its people to help bring others to Christ, further carrying out the commission. The Cultural Mandate seeks to bring God’s order to human society and all creation. The implementation of the mandate is primarily the responsibility of individual Christians.

So how are we doing in carrying out the Cultural Mandate? Are we treating the world the way it should be treated? Are we treating other people the way they should be treated? Do we even think about taking the Cultural Mandate beyond the confines of the church and into our lives? Just how do we identify the Cultural Mandate in, for instance, our jobs?

What exactly do we do at work? Does your profession help people? Have you ever thought about it? I have and it’s pretty convicting.

So let’s take an example. Let’s say there’s a guy at the local grocery store stocking shelves, bagging groceries, etc. Sure, he’s stocking shelves and bagging groceries, but he’s also helping to feed people. Maybe if he thinks about it, he might think of other ways to feed people, people who can’t get to the grocery store, people who can’t afford groceries. Maybe he comes up with a plan for donating food to the needy. Maybe he begins to go to work thinking about more than just earning a paycheck, thinking about helping to provide what people need to live.

How can you help people where you work? Ask enough questions and you’ll get answers. When we think about nothing beyond the paycheck, we’re not really caring about people. But when you do care, you’ll start thinking about how you can help, about how you can start forming relationships. When you build relationships, you really won’t have to be so concerned with saying anything about being a Christian. People will know that there’s something different about the way you’re treating them.

When you genuinely start helping people, when you build relationships, people are likely to respond to what you’re saying. This is more than practicing random acts of kindness. It’s bringing the love of Christ to His entire creation, especially those created in His image.

Applying the Cultural Mandate at work is just one aspect of your life outside the church, just one way you can positively influence the culture. Sure it might be small, but so what? Start small, start local.

So how else does the Cultural Mandate affect our lives? What about in our choices of entertainment? Is it important for you to listen to music, to watch movies that recharge your soul in positive ways? What about the choices you make politically, who you’re going to vote for? How does the Cultural Mandate affect the environment? Education? Public policy? How you think about sports?

What we want to do in the Culture Center is to help you to live out the Cultural Mandate as individual Christians, to equip people to respond to cultural issues by engaging the culture, bringing a Christ-like influence to the culture around us. Wherever we are, we should have a mending effect in this broken world.

Too often we see areas of our culture that need a Christ-like influence, but aren’t sure how we can get involved. We want to provide resources that will allow you to use your gifts to impact the culture in a positive way. We already have many ministries in place: Disaster Relief, homeless ministries, food pantry and several others. But these just scratch the surface. You might know of a need in the community that is getting no attention. Maybe it’s not something that falls under the leadership of the church, but you as a Christian have a passion for it. Maybe it’s a public policy issue or maybe it’s something as simple as spreading the word about a really uplifting movie you just watched. We want to connect you with people who may already be doing those things. If it’s something new, we want to look at what we can do to address it.

A trellis provides a structure for growth. If you have plants in your backyard and you want them to expand over a certain area, you put up a trellis. If that trellis only has two growth points of a couple of inches high, you aren’t going to get very much coverage. For a long time, we’ve had just a few parts to our trellis: you could become an officer in the church or teach Sunday School. Well, that’s pretty limiting. Maybe get involved with a small group or volunteer in a ministry. That’s better, but there’s more. And maybe your gifts aren’t in those areas. Or maybe our trellis expands with ministries, which is great, but is still only covering a fraction of our yard. We need something more for those people in the church who have a passion for the culture, but not only the culture, but people care, spiritual growth, family, all of our centers.

I’m asking you to start thinking about the Cultural Mandate and how we can carry it out beyond these doors. We’ve all been given gifts. We all have a passion about something. And we’re all called to good stewardship of the gifts and passions God has given us. If you’re not sure what to do, would you pray? Pray for God to show you what you can do. And would you pray for us, for the Culture Center? And for all the centers. If you have any questions or would like to talk, I’d love to meet with you.

You Want Me to What??? Turn Off My TV???

2008-07-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (NF 1985, 2005 reprint) - Neil Postman; Penguin, 184 pages.

Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing the Truth about the American Voter (NF 2008) - Rick Shenkman; Basic Books, 210 pages.

It’s important to keep in mind that Postman’s book was first published in the days before plasma TVs, hundreds of channels, DVDs, iPods, iPhones, Xbox and PlayStation gaming systems and the Internet. If what Postman said in 1985 is true, that we really have been dumbed down by television, what does that say for us in 2008 with an even wider array of devices for our amusement?

Postman begins with a brief discussion of two highly influential, possibly even prophetic novels, Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World. While Orwell was concerned that people would be deprived of truthful information by those in power, Huxley was concerned that we wouldn’t care about the truth because we’d be too busy being entertained. “Orwell,” Postman says, “feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.”

According to Postman, the Age of Typography began its decline with the invention of Morse code and continued on through radio and television. Yet Postman isn’t saying that changes in media necessarily bring about changes in the structure of the mind or cognitive abilities. “My argument is limited to saying that a major new medium changes the structure of discourse; it does so by encouraging certain uses of the intellect, by favoring certain definitions of intelligence and wisdom, and by demanding a certain kind of content - in a phrase, by creating new forms of truth-telling.”

When the medium changes from word-centered to image-centered, people are given less opportunity to examine and analyze a wide variety of information that runs the risk of being presented out of its original context. It’s also true that information in a print medium can be taken out of context, but with a visually based medium, “facts push other facts into and then out of consciousness at speeds that neither permit nor require evaluation.”

Take the television news, for example. Newscasters present news stories with serious, sometimes urgent attention and concentration, but it isn’t long before someone says, “And now, this...”, signaling that it’s time to focus on the next story, relegating the previous one into the realm of the irrelevant.

Yet television goes to great lengths to assure viewers that by watching, they can learn all they need to know about political figures, especially presidential candidates. This idea is a central focus of Rick Shenkman’s new book Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing the Truth about the American Voter.

According to Shenkman, the average American voter has not absorbed the basic facts about basic political issues. We embrace misinformation and myth, largely because we haven’t gathered the facts and given them careful thought. Has this happened because we watch television more than we read newspapers, or is there more to it than that? What does it say about us when only “1 in 4 Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment, but more than half of Americans can name at least two members” of The Simpsons?

Is the mythologizing of history to blame? Or is it our reliance on sound bites and thirty-second news clips? And are the newspapers really a more reliable source of information? Can we trust public opinion polls (plus or minus three percent)?

You see it all the time: Democrats pointing fingers at Republicans, Republicans pointing at Democrats, each blaming the other for the current mess we’re in. Yet, as Shenkman states, you never see either side pointing the finger at the American people. The wisdom of the American people (the most informed people in the world, after all) is sacred, not to be questioned.
Shenkman asks,

Why had The People elected to the presidency persons of both political parties wholly lacking in foreign policy experience, and not just once as in the case of George W. Bush, but over and over and over again? Why had The People taken so little interest in international issues that both their media and their leaders felt compelled through the years to limit public debate about foreign policy? Why did The People not pay attention to developments in Afghanistan and the Middle East? And why did they not remember the history of the Middle East - and their country’s role in rearranging the affairs of that region’s countries, putting in power tyrants such as the Shah and conniving to keep in power dictators like Saddam?

Again, we are reluctant to confront our myths. But how can we confront them when we’re surrounded with news of Britney’s custody settlement and Angelina’s twins? Sure, you can find out Obama’s and McCain’s stands on foreign policy, but you might have to dig a little.

Still, Shenkman believes we are not too far gone (or, rather, too far stupid). There is hope and maybe reading Amusing Ourselves to Death and Just How Stupid Are We? is a good first step.