{"id":11073,"date":"2020-10-17T23:38:32","date_gmt":"2020-10-18T03:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=11073"},"modified":"2020-10-18T11:40:13","modified_gmt":"2020-10-18T15:40:13","slug":"last-week-the-news-whats-lesser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=11073","title":{"rendered":"last week, the news & what’s lesser"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

No doubt multiple current challenges exist in this crazy cultural moment. There is a level of uncertainty that has crept into all sorts of societal nooks and crannies. And it\u2019s rattling us. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do we know?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are missing the big picture. We are justifying what is not<\/em> good and true and right. And we are being lured into what\u2019s lesser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allow me a few, brief examples\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are being lured into what\u2019s lesser if in conversation we lead with \u201cI\u2019m just going to say\u201d and tolerate no response nor dialogue after that. That says more about \u201cme\u201d and my inability to consider thoughtful dissent than it says about anyone else\u2019s ignorance or obstinacy. Our need to state our stance coupled by an unwillingness to earnestly examine another is evident of a lack of wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are being lured into what\u2019s lesser if we can no longer affirm an act of kindness or compassion. Like many, I tuned into the Senate Judicial Committee hearings this past week (as I do with each Supreme Court nominee \u2014 also grateful for C-SPAN). When progressive Sen. Diane Feinstein and conservative Sen. Lindsey Graham hugged at the hearings\u2019 conclusion, I admit: I loved it. I love that the two seemed to recognize our shared humanity means more than political entrenchment. Hence, when the calls quickly came for Feinstein to resign because of her \u201cbetrayal\u201d in expressing affirmation to the committee chairman, it was a sobering moment. I understand our passions; I also have long been an advocate for congressional term limits, seeing no need for the Grassley\u2019s and Leahy\u2019s to be in office so long. But when we are irked by an empathetic embrace, my sense is the problem isn\u2019t with the people we are watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are being lured into what\u2019s lesser when we think only one side is hypocritical. One of the aspects that appeared clear to even casual observers last week is that these partisan sides are actively engaged in pointing fingers at other people only, acting as if the shoe was on the other foot, they<\/em> would respond differently\u2026 they<\/em> wouldn\u2019t alter the rules\u2026 they<\/em> wouldn\u2019t ram things through\u2026 they <\/em>would reach across the aisle and answer all the questions. That\u2019s a little too much focus on \u201cthey\u201d<\/em> for this semi-humble current events observer. It also seems to be an incomplete read of our nation\u2019s recent history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My sense is being lured into the lesser rattles us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so two weeks before the national election (and more concerned about what happens after it \u2014 how people will treat each other, no matter the result), allow me to make my continued plea for an objective intake of news. The biased media is part of the lesser lure.

Let me encourage we consider what we wholly tune into \u2014 recognizing that there is a difference between news, analysis and opinion. AllSides.com<\/a> is an insightful resource, as their stated goal is to \u201cexpose people to information and ideas from all sides of the political spectrum so they can better understand the world \u2014 and each other.\u201d Here is their latest, updated media chart, which the Intramuralist believes to be especially vital now:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What we tune into matters, friends. It matters in how much we\u2019re rattled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a person of faith, one of my goals is not to be rattled. It\u2019s instead to stay grounded, hold onto the big picture, and to never be lured by what\u2019s lesser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AR<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No doubt multiple current challenges exist in this crazy cultural moment. There is a level of uncertainty that has crept into all sorts of societal nooks and crannies. And it\u2019s rattling us.  How do we know? We are missing the big picture. We are justifying what is not good and true and right. And we … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “last week, the news & what’s lesser”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11073"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11088,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11073\/revisions\/11088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}