On Friday I was going in to Anchorage to work my temple shift for my Church. Friday was also the day that President Trump was meeting with President Putin here in Alaska. I was aware there might be some traffic flow issues, but wasn’t ready for the locals on the way in.

There were a number of signs on overpasses, and some were accompanied by people waving at the passing cars. None of the signs aligned with my beliefs or my political stance, but they did say that “Alaskan’s…” It got me to contemplating how easily it is for an individual to just group everyone together without a thought, or maybe they don’t have to courage to stand alone.

This I found very annoying. I don’t think I would have found it so annoying 10 years ago, but it seems now that people believe that they are completely correct in anything that they think, and if you don’t agree with them, you are obviously wrong first off, misled secondly, and thirdly, probably shouldn’t be thinking for yourself, let them do that for you, because again, they are obviously right.

The following day I was watching a couple of shorts waiting on a meeting I was attending that hadn’t started yet. There was a comedy routine about critical thinking. Comedy, because this comedian says it doesn’t happen anymore, and I would tend to agree in a lot of respects. She had the crowd laughing as she told about listening to both sides of an issue and forming your own opinion. What a concept!

We live in a day and age where people have become, I guess for lack of a better word, gullible; maybe sheep would be a better word, following a wolf in sheep’s clothing.. If the person is likeable, maybe seems credible, acts as if they are an authority, even if they don’t have anything backing them up, then people will just believe them. No research, no thought for the implications of their actions, just blindly follow like a puppet on a string.

I have recently seen quite a number of videos of people who have mutilated their bodies, all in the name of accepting who they are (and being validated by those who should first do no harm, by those who should have had their best interest at heart), who have since realized the horrific thing they have done, how it will affect them negatively the rest of their lives, and how much they wished someone, much more intelligent, much more responsible, would have had the courage to say no, to get them help that wasn’t affirming to their whims, but would help them see reality.

This goes back to absolute truth. Society today wants us to believe that there is no absolute truth, that my truth can differ from your truth, and that we all get to decide. That is false. There is truth, absolute truth. For example, honesty really is the best policy, families are the foundation of a good society, gender comes in two kinds: male and female, babies are human, and murder is wrong, especially when it involves humans in the womb. But somehow, people have been blinded by the societal trends and fads that rush past us like a river, but never stay because they aren’t based on truth.

My challenge today for everyone who is reading, is to utilize this God-given gift of critical thinking that we all have the ability to use. Use your brain to form your own opinions, but not based solely on one side of the issue. You’ll have to listen to both sides, evaluate what you hear, think about it, mull it over in your mind. Then be willing to stand behind what you have decided. If you’ve done your homework, it shouldn’t be hard to at least talk to others about the subject, listen to others, and express your opinions in a productive way. Not everyone thinks the same, but we can be respectful of the fact that not everyone thinks the same. We can listen, agree on some things, disagree on others, and still walk away friends.