Critical Thinking

Matthew 21:24 - Jesus answered them and said, "I will also ask you one question, if you answer me, I will also tell you by what authority I am doing these things."

Jesus is no dummy. He has the street smarts of someone who has grown up in an occupied country. He has learned to spot that look in someone's eyes that tells him they're up to something. And the chief priests and the elders are always up to something. The "ivory tower" academic term for street smarts is critical thinking. As Jesus put it to his followers,"be wise as serpents, innocent as doves." We, too, need to learn to recognize when someone is up to something. We need to learn to live in reality.

To be wise as a serpent includes assessing a situation correctly. To be innocent as doves means we're honest and authentic, as well as giving others the benefit of the doubt. Not forever, though. Maya Angelou has said it best, "When someone tells you who they are, believe them." We really lack this basic skill in America. Too many (white) people could not see who 45 really is. Anyone with even a smidgen of street smarts could tell he is a conman. They tried to make him out to be some sort of super genius. No, he's just a conman and so many of us saw it and tried to tell our senators and representatives. But very few people were willing to speak out against him at first.

This is the area where we have let our children down. Critical thinking is not always taught in school as it should be. I don't remember learning it until my 40s. Yet, it is necessary in order to have a well-functioning democracy that we educate ourselves and others. As citizens it is our job to acquire this skill and to use it in assessing the fitness of candidates for public office. Too many people vote on emotions rather than common sense - I guess that's another word for critical thinking. Too many people voted their own interests - racist and greedy as they were - rather than considering the consequences of their actions for other people.

Considering the consequences of our actions is an essential piece of critical thinking. Remaining in reality instead of trying to create our own - as 45 and the Republicans have been trying to do for decades - is essential. Only by allying ourselves with reality will we be able to see clearly the consequences of the horrific policies the Republicans are enacting. We will be able to spot their lies and challenge them. Only by education and speaking out will we be able to overcome their money-grubbing and cynical policies.

Critical thinking skills can inoculate us from falling for conspiracy theories, which are useful for blaming others - non-white people - for our problems and are another way to check out of reality. Operating in reality reveals the truth that when we take care of "the least of these," we are taking care of ourselves. This is what Jesus was doing by challenging the chief priests and the elders; taking care of the least of these (including the chief priests and the elders themselves) as well as himself. Critical thinking, being wise as serpents is not just for "ivory tower academic" people. It is a necessary skill for all of us.

In what sense are we wise as serpents? Do we believe everything we read or everything that a particular news source or person tells us? What would happen if we questioned that source?