The defining characteristic of our age may be summed up by the word “stupidity,” which may be defined as the impaired spiritual, moral, and mental condition of acculturated people (even seemingly intelligent ones) that has rendered them incapable of honestly evaluating truth claims and thinking logically (Rom. 1:28). Such “stupidity” has been inculcated by pop culture, scripted by mass media; propagated by the “dumbing down” of our educational system, and disseminated by godless political correctness propaganda for several generations now… Today we live in a morally insane and lawless culture that is incapable of self-governance — a culture that has become entirely reprobate before the eyes of heaven.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was surrounded by the atrocious evil of Nazi Germany, regarded the stupidity of his age as more dangerous than outright evil, since stupidity is a type of irrationality, a chosen ignorance of what is real and true. Against such willed ignorance we are often defenseless, since logical reasoning that appeals to objective truth for its premises finds no traction, carries no weight, and has no effect. The devil, then, seeks first of all to stupefy people, that is, to flatter and persuade them that there is no need for them to engage in serious thinking or to humbly question their assumptions… As William James observed: “A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” The antidote to unthinkingly accepting the biases and inculcated prejudices of the world is to be awakened to the reality of God: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov. 9:10).
The central axiom of all right thinking about reality is “wonder,” or the humble awareness that life itself is something mysteriously beautiful, amazing, and therefore inherently sacred. This is sometimes called yirat Adonai (יִרְאַת יְהוָה), “the fear of the LORD” that leads to wisdom. Right thinking therefore begins with consciousness of the good (הַכָּרַת טוֹבָה), that is, with an awareness that life itself a gift, a mystery, and a hallowed question… We seek our origin, our essence, and our purpose — and in our seeking we seek the LORD. We long for deliverance from what keeps us from healing, from love, from real hope. And as we seek, the wonder of the LORD God never ends. As Yeshua said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7).
