It seems that no matter what happens these days, the elephant in the room is just not even acknowledged. To me, it’s impossible not to be aghast at the sheer, willful, literally insane ignorance of way too much of our society. The issues are obvious. From vaccines, to the Jan. 6 insurrection, to global warming, to an outright denial of Christ’s teachings by Christians, the most useful term to depict our reality is a collective psychosis.
Why am I saying this? Because it seems to me that terms like polarization, culture wars, common ground, and even civility are often just words that make denial easier. Our tribalism is due to humans being bone-headed and blissfully unaware. But it is also a way to hide from reality and to even pretend that we are not very, very mentally ill as a society.
Psychologists define schizophrenia as an inability to function in the real world accompanied by a belief that one has an intuitive, special way of knowing things others don’t. If this is the measure, we are in a psychological epidemic.
It seems like growing up and facing the truth is now optional. I don’t believe we will heal by trying to understand ignorance. We heal by calling it what it is, a threat to our republic and a sign of moral decay, especially among the pious.
Rick Walker
Snohomish
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