Recently in Culture Category

Genius is, of course, a hugely overused word, but I used it the other day of a man that seems to have such an effortless ability to do broadcast media, especially Radio, that it seemed appropriate - Chris Moyles.

He's also someone I've listened to on many occasions (though never regularly, nor for long) and who's had me laughing out loud and being drawn into his "virtual company" of friends... something radio can do in a way TV can only dream about (a subject for another day perhaps).

Problem is that in the midst of that talent Chris Moyles has been hugely and unnecessarily offensive to plenty of people - especially those who are "easy targets".

I'm sorry, therefore, that I was way too quick to talk in terms of being a "fan" of his - though I confess I've enjoyed the many times I've heard him - and, especially in the light of his recent censure by OFCOM, I'd be apalled if anyone took that comment to mean approval of all he stands for and has said.

That being said... the original point still stands, in fact, it's strengthened. Chris Motles is just the sort of person we write off as being (a) unlikely to be interested in church and (b) beyond reach of the Good News of Jesus. Wrong on both accounts.

Two rather different headlines from reputable news organisations...

New York Times

Prostate test found to save few lives

BBC News online

...prostate cancer screening could cut death rates from the disease by 20%

Remarkably, the two articles manage to come to completely contradictory conclusions from precisely the same sets of studies and data - and they were published the very same day!

Informed choice is valued above almost everything else - from schooling to hospital treatment, to the environment - but the contrast between these two reputable sources of 'information' points up two major trip hazards along the way:

1. Being 'well informed' is not the same as being right
   
   One of the hallmarks of the 'post-modern' mindset is a huge (and not entirely ill-founded) suspicion that we can ever really 'know' exactly the right answer to some of the most important life-changing/saving questions we can imagine.
   
   The problem is that this breeds a suspicion of experts, of claims to authority or certainty that can leave us either stuck with indecision, or to react against whatever view is mainstream, fearing we've been duped. The furore over MMR vaccinations is one obvious case where this seems to have caused real damage. The reaction against the faith-based assumptions of a Christian worldview is, perhaps, connected...
   
   
2. Choice itself can be the enemy.
   It's not merely the reliability of information that can scupper our decision-making, but the availbility of choice itself.
   
   Next time you're in a supermarket, just think how much simplet - if a bit dull - it would be to have rather less choice in the bread aisle, or amongst the 50+ butters, spreads and margarines on offer.
   
   We like choice, but choice itself can be so overwhelming and demand so much of us - that we become experts on everything - that we could wish it were taken away.

Both problems lead to a swing away from uncertainty and choice towards the certitude that comes from trusting an 'expert' and being told what to do - it's an undeniably safer and easier existence and the reason - at least one of them - why more 'extreme' forms of religion are making a comeback... as we mentioned briefly yesterday.