coryonomics

This is a video of a man named Taylor Mali. He is a slam poet. Why is it called slam poetry? I don't know. However he raises a great question and then makes a great point. Taylor addresses the issue of relativity in opinions. Why are we so afraid to speak emphatically?
In the so called name of inclusiveness, tolerance, and being "politically correct" we have become a people who no longer stand behind any opinion we might have because we are afraid of those who might label us. We end up being a people who almost say something important.
Can you imagine Dr. MLK saying, “I have a dream?” Without conviction and speaking with the authority that convictions bring, we would absolutely go nowhere and believe anything. Are we an open-minded society? Yes, but for some reason we never close our mind enough to have a personal set of values and convictions to speak with clarity or live intentionally.
The other thing that bothers me is the question of who gets to decide what is closed or open minded. If I am always ceding authority and conviction to someone else, I am essentially saying your opinions about things that affect me are more important than my own experiences. I am also turned off by the assumption that because I speak and act with conviction that this in someway diminishes the opinion of another if they happen to disagree.
However, and there is always a however, this does not mean that convictions mean bullying. As a matter of fact the more secure we are in our convictions the less likely we will be to use our opinions to wound others.
I might also argue that for many the lack of speaking with conviction can lead to more harm than good. Take the minister who never has a definitive word. His relativity leads to a relative truth that leads to a relative God. What kind of good news is that? How will people ever know where you stand? Oh, but what if I offend someone with my interpretation of the truth? Well, there is no insult like truth, but the truth sets us free, and as a minister my job is not about relativity but about declaration with a grand caveat… I am called to speak the truth in love. Jesus offended but he loved. Thank God he never said, “Love one another as I have loved you? Seek First the Kingdom of God? Take up your cross and follow me? Truly I will see you in paradise today?”