Openness

“Hip-hop is the people. What the people are moving toward is what hip-hop is. I think what the people are moving toward is a freer way of thinking. Openness.”

— Erykah Badu

Our minds need to remain open. This means open to new learning and open to other viewpoints.

Openness is freedom, because we have the option of changing our minds. Closed minds are contrary to freedom as there is no ability to learn and option to change one’s mind.

We live in a very divided nation where too many minds are closed, with the result that the issues of our time are no longer properly debated. Instead, the debate is degraded to ad hominem attacks.

Theologian Jim Wallis has taught: “We can find common ground only by moving to higher ground.” This is a wonderful teaching, but requires openness of mind. Otherwise, we don’t even get to the higher ground.

Openness of mind is not a natural human condition. Stubbornness, resulting in closeness of mind, is a much more natural reaction. But openness is an invisible force that is the only way human beings are going to get to higher ground together.

Discussion

There is no more divisive issue in our time than the issue of abortion. Because one side is not going to convince the other, can we try to achieve higher ground by discussing ways to make abortion legal but rarer, e.g., by finding ways to decrease teenage pregnancy and by promoting adoption?