The Spirit Of Inquiry Poem by Ian (John) McCleary (Son of the Cleric)

When the spirit of inquiry is no longer widely practiced, people become easily shaped into whatever others want them to believe. When people accept information at light speed, they suspend one of their basic rights, freedom from ignorance and manipulation.
When someone wants to sell us something for a profit, they don't want us to think too long about the product they are selling, their goal is to make a quick sale to the consumer. Through clever marketing they can sell us anything. The same can be said about political campaigns. It depends a lot on how a candidate markets themselves which determines whether a person votes for them. Policy is sold just like a consumer item. No one has to know so much about what's on the inside of the box only that we have an emotional attachment to whatever is on the outside. That is what mainly guides our decision when choosing candidates.
Family members have tried to prevent me from speaking about the things that they accept and believe with blind faith.
The use of slogans and political rhetoric make it unnecessary to know the truth behind them and what they are all about.
This same consumer behavior also infects the church. The modern day church runs much on how it advertises itself. This is often with lots of upbeat music and free giveaways, anything to keep the congregation in their seats. The message too must be made as simple as possible. It is more important that the seats are filled than empty. This is religious charlatanism at it's worst. I write this because i worry that we have become very poor at disseminating the information we are given today by our own indifference to the acquisition of knowledge. The purpose of knowledge is for the good of ourselves and the society we live in.