The Impact of Looking Beyond Public Opinion
View all responsesPublic opinion pressures us to think other people’s thoughts, to utter other people’s words, and to copy other people’s behaviors. Public opinion polls follow the crowd, not the wise. The mainstream of public opinion is often overflowing with deception.
Public opinion is the collected accumulation of human pride rising up to override the inner voice of the conscience. It frequently pressures people to say and do things that they believe are morally wrong. If you’re unwilling to openly disagree with public opinion, you’re trapped by it. When your conscience and public opinion clash, work up the courage to obey your conscience.
Public opinion despises innocence and calls it naivety, but the conscience seeks to preserve innocence. When public opinion compels you to violate your conscience, you’ve lost your freedom.
Public opinion sees honesty, kindness, humility, and apology as weakness when in reality they require great strength. It promotes pride, self-righteousness, deception, and manipulation. Public opinion is popular propaganda.
Because public opinion is built on people’s turbulent emotions and dark desires it often departs from truth. It corrals people in a community of common deception by criticizing the wisdom and counsel of their conscience. It proclaims that accumulating costly possessions is more important than living with honesty and integrity.
When religion is mixed with the desire to rule a nation, oppression is not far behind. Live to please God, not to please the public. The pride of public opinion tends to resist openly admitting the cruelty and injustice in a nation’s past.
True Christianity has never been an ally of public opinion. It has always been a prophetic voice calling people and nations to humility, honesty, integrity, compassion, justice, love, mercy, forgiveness, peace, kindness, self-control, righteousness, and to the voice of God. True Christianity is found in the Bible, not in religious ceremonies.
Break with public opinion. Be a Christ-knowing Christian, flowing with His presence and going wherever He tells you.
Much applause
Should always cause
Us to pause
And to ask,
If we’re trapped
In the claws
Of public
Opinion.
A public opinion poll
Can be like a black hole
And pull people into
Merely playing a role.
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