Did Christ engage in black and white thinking?

During these political times, I have been pondering the idea of black and white thinking. This led me to look at the words of Christ, Who does seem to use black and white rhetoric. Can we make a distinction between black and white rhetoric and black and white thinking? It was extremely important to the Jews that Christ spoke to the Pharisees and Sadducee in absolutes, as that was part of their rhetorical style of teaching. Ron Paul says things which alienate the larger part of the Republican structure, but most people who have come over to him like his way of speaking in black and white terms--the straight talker, like George Bush, or Davy Crockett. Some people who would never vote for him demand that his language be seen as raising issues in absolute terms in order for those issues to be taken seriously. If you make a black and white statement, people may tend to respect you even if they do not agree with you. You would seem like a honest person.

As a teacher, I moved away from such statements and moved into the Socratic Method, which is based on questions, an approach which Christ also used as part of the Rabbinic way of teaching.

But, black and white rhetoric is not the same as black and white thinking. We live mostly in areas of tepid grays. Such b and w thinking is the fallacy of the false dilemma. We must say that as human beings our truth is limited by our perceptions, and our checks and balances, which is Revelation and Tradition in the Catholic Church, help us understand and clarify the grays. These "checks and balances" are one reason I am Catholic. We have a reasonable religion, unlike some based on fear or emotion, which allows for discussion and understanding our Faith to a point.

One of the reasons there are such divisions in the American culture is because of black and white thinking-I saw this last year in the disputes in Wisconsin regarding the budget repair bill. Even such movements as the occupy and anarchist movements are begun and inflamed by black and white thinking. So, how as Catholics do we fall into the fallacy of false dilemma? Christ did say "He that is not with me, is against me: and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth."Matthew 12:30 But, Christ, because He is the Way, the Truth and the Life does offer only one alternative to salvation. He is God.

What we must do is put on the Mind of Christ. Too many Christians do not think like Christians. They think like pagans or secularists or practical atheists. Americans talk and think big, compared to older cultures, which appreciate subtlety in rhetoric. This is an art, but how is big talk or subtle talk in keeping with the Mind of Christ? We must communicate slowly and carefully so that we can understand the thought of those whom we are evangelizing, or even convincing to our political position. Have we lost the art of communicating the Mind of Christ, and if we are not thinking like Christ, can we communicate the Good News? In good Socratic Method, I am asking more questions here than answering. 


I think the answer is simply becoming like Christ, living in and with Christ, allowing Him, as Ignatius states, to take all one's memory, understanding, and will. Only in the mystery of allowing the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit purifying the mind and imagination, the memory, and the will, do we grow in holiness. The dying of self, or to self, allows us to think and act like Christ. Then, the dilemma is solved. We can speak in black and white terms, but think without judging. This does not mean that we tolerate evil, but that we love beyond the actions of individuals. Therefore, we can communicate the Mind of Christ. To be continued..as one cannot confuse this Love with tolerating any type of evil. "But I have against thee a few things: because thou sufferest the woman Jezabel, who calleth herself a prophetess, to teach, and to seduce my servants, to commit fornication, and to eat of things sacrificed to idols." Revelations 2:20