The Blindness of Extremism

Extremist see so little; only what they want to see. I thought about this as I watched the final presidential debate last night, and was reminded again when I got to work this morning.

I saw in the debate views on both sides that I liked and agreed with. On the other hand, friends at work this morning greeted me with total praise for every word that came out of Obama’s mouth, and condemnation for every word uttered by McCain. Things just aren’t that black and white for me (no pun intended). I believe that every person, no matter how “different” they may be, has opinions that can be valued and accepted by others.

Yet extremism blinds people to the worth of others who are “different” from themselves. I believe the fundamental makeup of the extremist is that they are not willing to even consider the views of others. This goes for political extremists, environmental extremists, religious extremists; you name it.

Referring back to the types of topics I typically write about, here are a couple of examples of religious extremists:

• The members of the Topeka, Kansas church who loudly proclaim that God hates everyone except for them. They apparently read the bible looking only for things that support their view. If they come across something that is in conflict with their views, perhaps they ignore it or simply spin it.
• Those who believe that God does not consider homosexuality a sin. Based on what these people have to say, it appears they read the bible in the same way as the “haters”, or maybe they don’t read the bible at all.

What these two groups have in common (other than how they read the bible), is that they are blinded by their extreme views; unwilling to even consider evidence that is in conflict with their beliefs.

Extremists don’t always stand out like the radical Obama supporters where I work, or the religious nuts who carry signs saying “God hates you”, or the suicide bombers in the Middle East. We all may be blinded by our own extreme views and beliefs. Think about it; where are your blind spots?

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