Security in Ignorance

There is definitely a growing majority in our society that are perfectly fine with remaining ignorant about a spectrum of different issues and subjects. Even within our colleges, universities and other learning institutions we see the attendees being content with remaining uneducated on vital problems. Why is this? Why would anyone allow themselves to remain ignorant about issues and philosophies that are so pressing? I think it goes beyond the old cliche "ignorance is bliss", but I definitely think that it starts there.

The biggest problems with using cliches it that they are so redundant that they often fall on deaf ears. So when I say "ignorance is bliss", we often don't even receive it as fact because we have heard it so many times. But why is ignorance bliss? It's because we're accountable for every piece of knowledge that we acquire. Whatever we are educated about, we are then responsible to do something with that knowledge. If we don't learn anything then we aren't obligated to do anything with the knowledge that we have. It makes logical sense and in this rationality I guess ignorance can be bliss.

But is anyone really ok with remaining ignorant? As with many things in society we see a dichotomy in this too. As we see a majority becoming more and more content with being ignorant on a variety of issues, we also see a growing number of people "spreading awareness". More and more people are finding a numerous amounts of causes to advocate for. But there is a problem with both of these schools of thought. The first is obviously bad. Remaining ignorant about something does keep you in the green about it. On top of that, being aware of something and only spreading awareness about it doesn't do much better. As Christians we're called to action.

So what do we do? First, educate yourself. Don't allow yourself to settle for ignorance on anything. Educate yourself on everything. Become knowledgeable about social issues, politics, philosophy, theology, etc. I often hear people rationalize that not everybody needs to know about that stuff, but only the professionals. I've heard this numerous times about theology in particular. That is ignorant. Educate yourself. I don't care who you are or how much you know right now, learn more. Figure out how God is integrated into every aspect of our lives, how He has worked through history, societies, politics, science, and literature. Second, once you're educated, then you're responsible for what you know. You have an obligation to share it. Teach someone. Once you have become educated on something you are then responsible to teach others what you know.

Do not give into the educational stigmas. Learn and teach.