Maybe I'm wrong...???

How to decide what is right and discern what is wrong

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I’ve been watching a lot of Fox News lately. Some of you who know me may find that funny but let me explain.

I’ve never been a fan of their reporting, as I find it too snarky, mostly egregiously one-sided and ultra inflammatory.

When reading the Bible, we usually approach it by using eisegesis or exegesis. Eisegesis literally means “to lead into”, as in “leading our own ideas into the text”. The opposite is “exegesis”, which means “to draw out”. So, eisegesis is when we “read something into” a biblical text that may not actually be there. And exegesis is when we try to “draw out” of the text what is actually there. I see people taking verses out of context often, to justify their own opinions and beliefs.

I think we approach our news the same way. We love reading or listening to news that leads us into our already formed ideas about things. News that reinforces our ideas as being “right”. I know I’m guilty of that at times. Echo chambers are comfy for us all.

But that’s why I’ve been watching Fox News lately because it tends to report things from the opposite view of my held beliefs about the world and life. I watch it because I want to understand how people I love can form some opposite views from mine concerning life, the world, politics and even religion.

Sometimes I find myself going, “Ok, I can see that. They make a good point.” And other times I’m completely shocked at the spins they make to justify hated, bigotry, racism and violence.

We all form our opinions from our experiences, information we get and the community we encapsulate ourselves in. Those opinions are hard for most of us to change. But Romans 12:2 says to “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” which I take to mean that we can only be truly transformed if we have an open mind and humility in our own understanding of things.