I’m glad I write for Wake Forest Today; it really is a privilege to be engaged in this ongoing conversation with our new community. But today’s column makes me long for a voice in one of the national news outlets. I feel that what I have to say is that important.

Today’s column, in a nutshell, argues that knee-jerk cynicism is destroying the ability of many people to see clearly. A preloaded negative mindset is not only false, but it will ultimately become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Here’s the lead: Sometimes – when I read the newspapers, scan the Internet, check out the local news at 11:00, and chat with people about “the state of the world” – I find myself slipping, albeit unconsciously, into cynicism, pessimism, or – worst of all – a sense of fatalism regarding the future. (read more…)

Here are a few bullets from the column:

• Cynicism seems to have become the language de jour when it comes to conversation about the world…
• The problem is that all information is not equal…
• We let the violent, the prurient, and the disturbing elbow their way to the top of the pile…
• Advertising presented as news; opinion spun as fact; documentaries that turn out to be infomercials; preference touted as gospel; popular passed off as right…
• Belief isn’t a passive response; belief will actually change the future. Do we dare?

Please click on this link for the entire article; yes, I believe it’s that important.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds… (Romans 12:2a)

The future belongs to those who believe – DEREK