Opus 2025-379: Monday Pulpit: It Just Makes Sense

Someone made a comment about common sense.  I think it was in reference to Iran.  It occurred to me that what a Persian might think of as common sense would not be the same as an American.  For that matter, I have noticed that my neighbor’s idea of common sense isn’t the same as mine.

That might be a good place to start if we are trying to understand others.  If you are dealing with a Muslim who has been raised in a culture that treats women as possessions or tools then why should you be surprised when they gang rape young women parading around in public with a lot of skin showing.  To them it is common sense that she is a whore.  They see no problem and wonder what yours is.

Or take your neighbor.  Perhaps they came from a family that lived where there was no regular trash pick up.  They might have a pile in the back yard where everything was discarded.  It made perfect sense to them.  Why should they obsess about a bag of trash when they could bring in a trailer and haul a big pile out at one time, or not.  What is your problem?  They don’t have one.

Take the people attending churches where “contemporary worship” is the norm.  To you the music is boring, insipid and lacking in theological content.  Keep in mind that many of the people around you were raised with hard rock being played 24/7.  They never had a class in music appreciation in school unless it involved oriental music.  When they do listen to music the main emphasis is on moving to the beat.  To them this type of worship is just common sense.

Consider the world you live in.  Others see through different lenses.  Does that make them right?  Not necessarily but in their way of thinking what they are doing is just common sense.

homo unius libri