Bias and Prejudice

It has occurred to me that there exists a great injustice to the cause of faith in relativist circles. A circular line of reasoning that is, while seemingly logical, astoundingly dishonest.

The good post modern thinker will strive, whenever a stereotype is issued in their hearing, to argue that such claims are falsehoods by the simple virtue that they cannot be truthful in every instance. 

For example, one might firmly claim: "Clearly anyone who smokes pot is an irresponsible degenerate."

To which, the smug, and aware-enough-to-be-wary, intellectual would counter with a fine example of upstanding politicians (who once partook of the finer herb). Or they might take the course of empathy: Mentioning the cancer patient who prefers this medicinal application over more damaging medicines to manage their pain and suffering.

How can you argue with that? They are, in an exact sense, right. Your stereotype is just that.

I must insist though that they are, in a greater sense, frauds. Here's why:

The initial example is potentially backed by the viable repetition of some action by many members of the group. This is statistically reasonable. If you observe the same action in multiple cases, you tend to anticipate the next case to fall within the same trend. You have outliers, which your humble friend uses to undermine the gross generalization, but nonetheless, there are observable facts associated with many stereotypes, which can be reliably anticipated amongst a majority of members of the group to which the action/behavior is attributed.

Your friend, in their (laughably) 'humble' opinion will only really go after you if you threaten to apply the bias to an undeserving individual, as shown above. But let us flip the perspective a bit and see if they afford you  mutual respect with regards to their own occasional bias.

Say for example you claim that there is an absolute God who offers salvation though His Son Jesus Christ, and that with this promise of salvation comes a certain moral perspective on the world that objects to certain actions of your friend.

A common way of beating around the bush in their reply is for your friend to take your individual claim, apply it to the general group of Christendom, then break the group down into their favorite anecdote of hypocrisy, brutality, etc. In this way they create a Stereotyped Prejudice, or in more common terms, they argue that one bad apple ruins the whole bunch.

Now this line of argument has noble roots. In an effort to avoid prejudice, the good post-modern thinker will strive to point out the good examples in the midst of some negative generalization as well as the bad examples in some overly positive generalization. This allows them to have a balanced view of the world. Therefore it is not surprising that in the face of an individual claim (that is made also by others), they are quick to point out the worst cases to undermine yet another generalization. 

And here is where this noble pursuit turns into sour dishonesty: Christendom makes a general claim. Imperfect humans grasp it and follow imperfectly. Yet the happy condition of the good post-modern thinker is that to them: every claim is a generalization; and they prefer to focus on the individual story or example. This goes on until they are faced with a generalization that is so absolute, so unyielding that no longer is it a claim,  it is absolute TRUTH. Then they desperately prejudice themselves against truth, in the most unflattering aerobatics of thought you will ever see.

Allow me to explain it in another way. One of the finer barbs of relativism is that it liberates a person so greatly from general trends, that everything becomes a distinct perspective. It is a discourteous slight of hand to then use those perspectives to turn about and make some prejudiced generalization about the group which in spite of itself offers the greatest general claim to TRUTH. That is the cause of many a post-modern objection to Christ, the notion of truth is inexorably bound to absolutes, and absolutes are relevant for every perspective. That is a hard pill to swallow for the good post-modern thinker, and it is why we must as followers of Christ strive to align ourselves with His claims daily; we can validate or betray the claims of our Lord in everyday life. 

So I close with this thought: In spite of the tricks of the frauds we are called to reach in the world, the best case for faith is still by our own example as living and breathing Christians. So I ask you reader: in what ways are you stumbling? With that in mind, how might you be the cause of a prejudice against the great grace of God? We should pray that we grow in His grace moment by moment. 

Christians are not perfect but they can curtail the prejudice, and alongside the Holy Spirit, play a part in turning today's post-modern frauds, into forever followers of Christ.