- Apr 17, 2005
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The concept of being open minded or closed minded ought to be used in a better way.
Traditionally in the West, due to the way things were decades ago, an open minded person is generally someone who thinks outside of the box of the very prevalent 1950s mindset of God & Country.
However, it was not always that way...
Our vision of 1950s values have come under fire many times before.
Leftist political movements and atheist movements were prevalent in the 19th and early 20th centuries; the end of the 18th century; atheist and homosexual movements in the 17th and 15th centuries, the 11th century in the Arab world;
Economically and socially, the 4th century BC in the Chinese world saw Hsu Hsi develop a proto-Communist revolution; the 9th century saw Babik al-Khurrani develop a similar communistic movement in n. Iran/Azerbaijan; the 5th century saw modern day Iraq and Iran fall under sway of the prophet Mazdak which envisioned total sexual liberty and communistic values; there were other movements within the early period of Islam such as Surkh Alam which were proponents of a sort of Islamo-Communism.
Values embraced in some Kazakh rebellions (names escaping me) and the Hungarian peasant rebellion under Gyorgy Dozsa can be similarly noted.
There was a point in time even when the Buddhists were the conservative, old vanguard and the Confucianists were the forward thinkers (the foundation of the Chosun dynasty in 14th century Korea came about after the Mongol invasions and the necessity for cultural change, which then went on to repress dissenting thought until the very end, crushing Taoist influenced rebellions).
The concept that liberalism is a modern development and is the first rebellion against 'conservative' thought is generally absurd. The idea that they have a monopoly on the title of 'open mindedness' is laughable. The idea that history is progressing towards a final conclusion is outlandish and unfounded.
Humans have been undergoing the competing influences of the 'conservative' and the 'liberal,' the 'orthodox' and 'unorthodox' until what was once radical becomes mundane and what was once mundane becomes the new radicalism.
The idea of conservative and liberal only make sense if you think inside of the box labeled 'present time.'
The view that we are progressing further and further towards left wing utopianism and that those who oppose it are 'closed minded' is laughable.
In fact, the idea of an open mind versus a closed mind has far more to do with your personal origins than with the political trends of a time.
David Horowitz, controversial conservative columnist, was raised as an atheist Communist and spent a long period as such -- to someone who was constantly under the influence of left wing thought, the idea of being open minded was in thinking outside of what he knew.
We have made the mistake of putting people into boxes.
Not every conservative Christian was raised a conservative Christian, and not every liberal atheist was raised as such nor did they all spurn conservative Christianity and thus become 'open minded.'
The left has monopolized the term 'open mindedness.'
Open mindedness should be about thinking outside of whatever box you were given.
To be open minded you must consider all possibilities. Even the ones that you have been told not to consider.
For an American conservative Christian this means considering atheism; for a typical Chinese this means pondering the idea that there could be supernatural forces at work in the universe, considering that Christianity could be true.
Everything can be pondered from 360 degrees, not just two opposing points of 180 degrees.
Traditionally in the West, due to the way things were decades ago, an open minded person is generally someone who thinks outside of the box of the very prevalent 1950s mindset of God & Country.
However, it was not always that way...
Our vision of 1950s values have come under fire many times before.
Leftist political movements and atheist movements were prevalent in the 19th and early 20th centuries; the end of the 18th century; atheist and homosexual movements in the 17th and 15th centuries, the 11th century in the Arab world;
Economically and socially, the 4th century BC in the Chinese world saw Hsu Hsi develop a proto-Communist revolution; the 9th century saw Babik al-Khurrani develop a similar communistic movement in n. Iran/Azerbaijan; the 5th century saw modern day Iraq and Iran fall under sway of the prophet Mazdak which envisioned total sexual liberty and communistic values; there were other movements within the early period of Islam such as Surkh Alam which were proponents of a sort of Islamo-Communism.
Values embraced in some Kazakh rebellions (names escaping me) and the Hungarian peasant rebellion under Gyorgy Dozsa can be similarly noted.
There was a point in time even when the Buddhists were the conservative, old vanguard and the Confucianists were the forward thinkers (the foundation of the Chosun dynasty in 14th century Korea came about after the Mongol invasions and the necessity for cultural change, which then went on to repress dissenting thought until the very end, crushing Taoist influenced rebellions).
The concept that liberalism is a modern development and is the first rebellion against 'conservative' thought is generally absurd. The idea that they have a monopoly on the title of 'open mindedness' is laughable. The idea that history is progressing towards a final conclusion is outlandish and unfounded.
Humans have been undergoing the competing influences of the 'conservative' and the 'liberal,' the 'orthodox' and 'unorthodox' until what was once radical becomes mundane and what was once mundane becomes the new radicalism.
The idea of conservative and liberal only make sense if you think inside of the box labeled 'present time.'
The view that we are progressing further and further towards left wing utopianism and that those who oppose it are 'closed minded' is laughable.
In fact, the idea of an open mind versus a closed mind has far more to do with your personal origins than with the political trends of a time.
David Horowitz, controversial conservative columnist, was raised as an atheist Communist and spent a long period as such -- to someone who was constantly under the influence of left wing thought, the idea of being open minded was in thinking outside of what he knew.
We have made the mistake of putting people into boxes.
Not every conservative Christian was raised a conservative Christian, and not every liberal atheist was raised as such nor did they all spurn conservative Christianity and thus become 'open minded.'
The left has monopolized the term 'open mindedness.'
Open mindedness should be about thinking outside of whatever box you were given.
To be open minded you must consider all possibilities. Even the ones that you have been told not to consider.
For an American conservative Christian this means considering atheism; for a typical Chinese this means pondering the idea that there could be supernatural forces at work in the universe, considering that Christianity could be true.
Everything can be pondered from 360 degrees, not just two opposing points of 180 degrees.
