Everyone Has One and They All Stink

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Opinion is a curious thing. Like noses, everyone has one and they all smell. Think about it. There's absolutely no need for the opinion of anyone to be backed by actual fact. Opinion can be based on superstition, tradition, indoctrination, brainwashing, marketing, muckraking, or propaganda but does not need to be factual to exist.

To test my theory, I'll pose the age-old question, "What's better, Coke or Pepsi?" Cocaine, hands down. Far too many calories in Pepsi. But that's just my opinion.  Seriously though, how many decisions do we make each and every day based on opinion instead of truth? The bank we use, the car we drive, the clothes we wear...in a world with so many options competing for our time, money, and loyalty, how do we go about choosing the particulars?

The vast majority of decisions made stem from our opinions. Especially in consumer affairs. Companies spend millions of dollars to form our opinions; so do politicians. Why? Because once our minds are made up, our hard-earned unemployment checks go where we perceive value to be. We pay for whatever it is we think we need. If leaves are your thing (see The God-Shaped Hole) and the envy of others is what you seek, marketers have sold the idea that a particular brand of car or jeans or liquor is the top-shelf, cream of the crop, bomb-diggity. But is it?

Take a car for instance. A car's purpose is to get you from point A to point B. However, if you want to feel good about yourself by making others jealous, then certain automobile companies are more effective than others. A Hyundai gets you to work as does a Bentley. But popular opinion says a Bentley is more prestigious. The masses buy into this idea and a six-figure price tag becomes the norm. Are leather, heated seats better than whatever seats are in my Saturn? I don't know. Popular opinion says, "DUH! Of course they are!" But if marketers of vinyl spent millions of dollars to convince us that killing animals and using their skin for our comfort is wrong, we'd be willing to pay $100,000 for a vinyl interior.

Opinions change with the times. What's believed to be the Next Great Thing today becomes the Worst Thing Ever tomorrow. Take the egg for example. "Eggs are great! Eat eggs! Wait, eggs are bad. Don't eat eggs! But there's protein. Eggs are good! Hold on, too much cholesterol. Eggs are bad!" Every so often, some "expert" comes out with a study and the headline reads, "Such and such product previously thought to be great, now linked to Alzheimer's." Who's coming up these "studies" anyway? What's their agenda? Do they have a vested interest in swaying our opinion? More often than not, the folks who fund these "studies" stand to make some bucks if the general public's opinion is successfully shifted.

Look at the tobacco industry. Early cigarette ads were created to address concerns people had about the negative effects of smoking. In 1928, The Lucky Strike brand ran an ad in Literary Digest boasting such "health benefits" as "a way to stay in good shape and always feel peppy." The Camel brand stated, "More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette." People smoked in malls, daycare facilities, and hospitals.

Today's research undoubtedly links cigarette smoke with cancer and emphysema. The US Surgeon General places warnings on every pack sold. Smoking is outlawed in just about every public place imaginable. Yet, millions of people still smoke every day. The fact is, smoking kills. But marketers for Big Tobacco are able to sell the idea that certain brands are better than others, worth the risk, and a value at $10 per pack. How is this possible?

Opinion is a difficult thing to change. My buddy hates being addicted to cigarettes. He calls them "cancer sticks" and says in jest as he steps outside to light up, "Time to go get some cancer!" But he only smokes Newports. He won't touch another brand even if it's given to him for free. Why? He's under the opinion that a certain aspect of the Newport brand does a particular thing for him that other brands don't. In its most basic form, a cigarette is a cigarette (all my cigarette-smoking readers are screaming in unison, "A cigarette is NOT just a cigarette!".)

Cigarettes are designed to bring nicotine into your bloodstream. A car gets you from point A to point B. Clothes cover your body and protect you from the elements. Style, color preference, and brand identity are subtle nuances created by marketers in order to form opinion, drive up prices, and make more money. In my opinion, $800 jeans serve the same purpose as $10 ones. Your opinion may tell you otherwise and that's okay! Opinion is not fact.

With so many opinions vying to become ours, decades can be spent chasing the wind (see The God-Shaped Hole). I've come to realize that the intense yearning inside of me cannot be filled with a particular brand, car, career, religion, diet, fashion, or political affiliation. All those things become leaves on my branches (see Mustard on the Hotdog) to be flaunted in the faces of others.

If opinion-based purchases can't satisfy and fulfill me, what is a boy to do? Keep chasing the wind? Hop on every bandwagon that comes along? Follow every crash diet and new age spirituality that Hollywood swears by? No. In order to gain lasting fulfillment, contentment, and peace, I need to turn from opinion and seek truth.
Opinions come and go. Truth is timeless and unchanging. The truth is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The truth cannot be manipulated by marketers or studies. Sure, opinions about what's true change like the weather based on "recent findings" and "newly discovered information," but the truth is eternal. So how do we discern what's true? 

The dogma of today's society is, "Everyone has their own truth. Whatever works for you is your version of the truth." I tried that on for size and it didn't fit. In John 14:6, Jesus says, " I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me." God says, "Hey, that truth you've been looking for? That satisfaction you've been craving? You're not gonna find it in those designer jeans, organic vegetables, or expensive champagne. What you've been looking for...is me. What you've been looking for is truth; timeless, unchanging truth. I am the truth." 

The things of the world failed to satisfy me. When I found out the emptiness I was experiencing was a God-shaped hole, I asked God to fill it. Where did I go to seek God? His Word, the Bible. The truth I trust and the life force that sustains me is found in the person of Jesus Christ, the Word. My truth is found in the Bible. Turning my will and life over to Jesus as my Lord and Savior is the only choice I've ever made that has satisfied my desire for more. God is the only thing able to fill a God-shaped hole. But hey, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. 


Thanks for reading the very first Bent Straight post by Brandon Stephens. Check out some other popular posts and be sure to subscribe!

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