I'm a Coke man, Britney

Oops, she did it again. \nSitting in the movie theater, I grew more and more perturbed. The movie had started 20 minutes late. And to add insult to injury, they still took precious time to show the Pepsi ad featuring Britney Spears and her dancing crew. \nLet it be known that I have no respect for Britney, but that is another column for another time. As Britney and company danced up a storm, I began to wonder what on earth a bunch of dancers had to do with a soft drink. \nSeriously, why should I drink Pepsi (I'm a Coke man myself)? What do a bunch of dancers have to do with how it tastes or its value as a product? Yet advertising works, and for one good reason: in many aspects of our lives, we have stopped thinking.\nYes, we are ceasing to reason. Philosopher Ravi Zacharias wrote, "Western man has long prided himself as being the offspring of the Enlightenment, nurtured at the feet of sophisticated thinkers. Yet he has, in turn, brought about the humiliation of reason by the instruments that were born from the strength of the mind."\nI concur. The great thinking capacity that brought us the marvel of 21st Century technology now makes us idiotic. How many decisions are based upon reason, upon truth? Do we not simply follow our passions? And are our passions not shaped by what the world feeds to us? \nMusic and movies change our beliefs. Actors and talk-show hosts influence our opinions, while reason falls beyond reach of the lazy intellect. In a desert of lies, there seem to be few individuals who are thirsty for the truth. \nTo quote Will Durant, "The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes and fears or wishes rather than with their minds." John F. Kennedy said, "Too often, we … enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."\nHow true. It is much easier to let other people think for us. But with that ease comes a grave danger. When we stop thinking, we become easy prey for evil men. After all, it was Adolf Hitler who said, "What luck for rulers that men do not think." \nI am frightened to contemplate in what direction we mindlessly travel as a nation. By checking our brains at the door, we open ourselves up to the cunning and crafty among us who find society all too easy to manipulate. \nWithin the confines of this column, I intend to explore a spectrum of issues. Some may be controversial. Readers, it is my desire to encourage you to think, to quest after truth, and to consider the matters at hand. Don't drink Pepsi just because Britney gyrates on its behalf. \nAnd much, much more importantly, don't hold on to beliefs without pausing to consider if they are true. Be seekers of truth. Let us not just regurgitate what the media and political parties spoon feed us. Think for yourself.