Ideas are Dangerous

Had an odd coincidence this week that got me thinking.  Jonathan and I had a great discussion at small group about the influence of music, movies and other mediums on our thinking.  One particular movie we discussed was the Matrix and how it had Nietzsche's influence all over.  I went to work the next day and popped up google's newspage at lunch and found this article http://www.slate.com/id/2281133/ as well as this one http://www.hnn.us/articles/135404.html.  If you don't have the time to read both (or have better things to do on your lunch break) I'll save you the trouble and tell you that they both detail how Jared Loughner (the gunman in the Tuscon shootings) was quite fond of the writings of Nietzsche.  Now, I don't think Nietzsche is to blame for this tragedy any more than Sarah Palin or any one else they are trying to pin the blame on for what a clearly disturbed man did.  However, the second article brought an interesting point up that doesn't get much press in our culture: ideas are dangerous.

Ideas themselves don't get much discussion anymore.  We live in a very pragmatic society and ideas, and ideals for that matter, don't earn paychecks or invent ipods.  I see this everyday in a school setting.  What are the two most valued subjects in our schools?  Math and English of course- the useful, everyday subjects.  Even history, the subject I happen to teach, is boiled down to dates and facts with little to no room for discussion of ideas.  The kids in my classes are masters at finding the bold words in the textbooks and the underlined dates, but ask them to think and many of them are lost.  I have a hard time integrating ideas and beliefs in my Christian school history classroom, I can't imagine it happens at all in a public school.  Public schools must teach facts as morally neutral, devoid of any guiding principles, ideas, or beliefs.  Yet, how can we understand the enlightenment, the birth of our nation, or anything else for that matter without understanding the deep beliefs and ideas behind them? 

We have to get away from viewing ideas as disposable.  They may not earn a paycheck and you can't always test them on a scantron sheet, but they guide our every action and shape our lives in profound ways.  Sure, Nietzsche may not be to blame for the Tuscon shootings but the overthrow of Biblical values of right and wrong he proposed and their replacement by a new society where everyone decides for themselves what is right for them has been largely fulfilled.  These ideas must be discussed, evaluated, and debated in our homes and in our Churches.  Ideas are dangerous, but the most dangerous thing we can do is ignore them.