When culture tells you to do something, question it. When the media tells you to think a certain way, question that too. As a matter of fact, it’s a good rule of thumb to question everything. Authority, yes. Processes, definitely. Status quo? Absolutely.
I find that the more we question the ways of our world, the better off we’ll become for ourselves and the audience we are looking to serve. This is particularly hard to do when raising children though. Training them to question authority is a fine balance. We have to show right from wrong, but often, we don’t even know which is which ourselves. And so when our little one raises the question of “Why?” we freeze. We don’t know the answer. And thus, the famous, “Because I said so!” line. (Or the even worse, “Because that’s the way we’ve always done it.”)
Of course, this causes problems of it’s own. It means we have to question the things we believe to be the best. And that we have to take into account that the way we have always done something might not be the best or most efficient way to handle it anymore.
The root of all this is that we are living in a time of question. An economy that doesn’t have the answers. Leaders that don’t know the best course of action. Parents that aren’t sure whether public, private or homeschool is the best choice. All we can do is make sure that whatever we are doing, we’re making a ruckus. Because if we’re not, we’ve entered a race to the bottom. The main problem in that situation is that you don’t want to win.