2018 Resolution — Perspectives & Reactions

As you know, our society is changing, in numerous ways.  One of those changes is perspective — how we view and process things.  Perspective is developed during our lives from our parents, schools, work life, religion, and friends.  It is this perspective that also affects our actions — or reactions.

Secondly, we also develop a view of humanity which some would equate to the ‘cup half full, or half empty’.  Some believe that humanity is good, and others view humanity as basically evil.  Obviously this is not a binary decision, some people are worse behaving than others.  But the point is that everyone in this world is a sinner — we ALL sin.  Does this not make us basically sinners?

“What is your point”, you ask?

When we see or hear about a tragedy, how do we process that event?  We run it through our ‘perspective filter’ among other things.  From that we determine and evaluate the event so as to come to a conclusion — sometimes to rationalize it.  If for example there is a Las Vegas shooting where a lot of people are murdered and/or seriously injured, what conclusion do we come to?

The three most often assumed conclusions is that the perpetrator was either:  stupid, crazy, or evil.  Most often today, people leap to the first two options — stupid or crazy.  How often do you hear people say that the perpetrator was evil?  What kind of person do you believe it takes to murder someone?  If you personally got mad at someone you know, you might even have the thought go through your mind to punch that person offending you.  But what would it take for you to kill someone?  I would argue, at least in my case, one of two things — fear and self defense, or a total loss of my ‘compass’ directing my life.  Personally, my compass is Jesus Christ who I will have to account to one day.  This compass, the bible, always points north.  If you’re not religious, then your personal moral views determine your behavior.  If you have neither, what sort of person do you think we’re dealing with?  Evil?  Or just crazy?

Consider processing the potential disastrous events of 2018 through the mental evaluation filter discussed — consider evil as a factor in those events. If society alters their thinking regarding these incidents, then they may alter their reaction to them and subsequently help alleviate future situations in the process.