Anyone who knows me since about 2018, knows how into politics I was. It started around late 2017 or early 2018. I was so engrossed in politics that I fell into the trap of political idolatry. Due to the political polarization, in the United States. I saw politics as the best way to change things that I did not like about America. I thought that if the politics of America would change, the culture would change.
What I failed to understand and what I believe many others fail to understand as well, is that culture usually influences politics. Not the other way around. I remember hearing the story of a reformed Baptist from England named William Carrey who was a missionary to India. One of things that he is known for is ending the Hindu practice of sati. What used to happen in India would be that when a Hindu husband died, his bride would then be burned alive. However, when William Carrey went to India, he was able along with others to stop this practice. How did he do it? He did not abolish this practice by simply convincing the government to abolish it, leading others to have a change of heart about sati. He started to make progress by influencing the culture and proving that there was no basis for this practice in the Hindu scriptures called the Veddas. Eventually, it lead to the abolition of sati in India in 1829. Despite the fact that India is still an overwhelmingly Hindu country, sati is banned to this day. I wish I had fully understood this sooner.
Maybe if I had understood this sooner, I would not have wasted so much time posting about politics and things that do not matter at the end of the day and that cause more division than unity over gray issues. That is why from December 2, 2021 to January 2, 2022, I took a break from news networks to help me to focus on things that are eternal and will matter at the end of the day. Going forward I have decided to follow more neutral news accounts such as NPR, PBS Newshour, Reuters, Associated Press and Axios. No media outlet is completely impartial or unbiased, however I find these outlets to be far more neutral in reporting than CNN or Fox News. It is not wrong to have strong options about politics, I still have strong opinions about certain issues, but one must be careful to not fall into the same trap I did of making an idol out of politics.
Jean-Marc Brand 