Annoyances - Simplification

I think as you age, you come to learn more about yourself. You come to realize your own weakness and limitations more and more. Not only that, you also come to conscious realization of what it is that annoys you. I have come recently to recognise one of these 'annoyances' of mine: failure to take into account complexity. Let me explain.

Whenever someone talks about something without recognising and taking into account the complexity of whatever they're talking about, I find myself getting annoyed. This is especially so if I actually have some sort of knowledge about the subject, or when I have a personal investment in the subject. Lets take politics as an example. When people explain politics with broad brush simplifications, it bugs me. Folks regularly criticise the President of our neighbours down south. Now I have my own criticisms of George the 2nd, but I have come to realise you can't simplify the situation he is in. When you run the most powerful nation in the world, your decisions carry weight. Every move, every decision, ever word you say is criticised, publicised, and dissected. Perhaps we need more often to place ourselves in the shoes of 'the other' (go and read Exclusion and Embrace by Miroslav Wolf - a theological reflection on reconciliation by someone who had to deal with the Serbian/Croatian civil war). Now, if you know me, you wouldn't expect such words to come out of my mouth regarding Bush. But I guess people mature, and my distaste for simplification has driven my approach to change. Of course, I still don't support most of Mr. Bush's policy, but I respect him as a person and recognise the incredible pressures he must be under. I recognise the complexity of running the world's most powerful nation.

How about another subject I hold near-and-dear: biblical studies. Whenever I come across a comment, sermon, book, whatever, touching on biblical studies, my ears perk up. And whenever I start to notice somebody steamrolling the complexities out of the way, I get annoyed. Example, someone picks up a Gospel and start saying, "this is what Jesus said". Well, no. First off, Jesus didn't speak Greek (not as his primary language at least). Second off, Jesus never wrote a word of the Gospels himself. We have the words of Jesus (in Greek) according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Thirdly, following from the second point, each Gospel author is an author (imagine that!): they each have their own perspective, their own intentions, and their own understanding of Jesus which they put to writing. I think you can see the complexity of such a simple thing as 'what Jesus said'. Now, I *do* think you can say, "Jesus said such-and-such", but not through red-letter-bible simplification. And, as is often the case, recognising the complexity will likely better help you understand the text in question! Isn't that interesting, learning what Mark was up to might actually help you understand his portrait of Jesus better. Amazing.
Of course we have to simplify for evangelisms sake (to different degrees depending on the context), but when you keep feeding those same simplifications to Christians over and over again, you're effectly saying they're too stupid for reality. Reality is a complex thing. Go ask the quantum physicists, go ask microbiologists, go ask the psychologists. And I truely believe that the Christian faith is one that must always engage with reality. If it has any claim to truth, it holds that claim in the very real and very complex place we call our universe.

Want to know the sad thing? I am 100% likely to be guilty of the very thing that annoys me. I probably simplify situations all the time. I undoubtedly steamroll over complexity without a twitch...Didn't somebody once say we project on others our own weaknesses? I don't doubt it.

Anywho, me and simplification aren't good friends right now. Maybe later in life, when I mature some more, I'll find a way back, but who can predict such things.
I'd love to hear some comments. But do realise that Blogs aren't academic essays; they're more like a record of the free-flowing thought going on between the ears. Be merciful.

charis humin kai eirene apo theou patros hemon kai kuriou Iesou Christou
Grace to you, and peace from God our father and our Lord Jesus Christ