What you don't know will hurt you

I'm fairly certain that almost everyone, at some point, has heard the modern proverb: “What you don't know can't hurt you.”
The phrase is often used to keep sensitive information from someone (“What they don't know can't hurt them”) or to justify intentionally not looking into a problem or misdeed.
What we don't know, we tell ourselves, is incapable of impacting us.
This mindset allows us to remain in that area of “blissful ignorance” that we feel is the ideal mindset for ensuring happiness and contentedness.
When politics bother us or world news seems gloomy and dismal, we tend to pull back and insist that we are better off just not knowing about the happenings – after all, what we don't know cannot possibly hurt us.
If we do not know about a problem, it is impossible – we rationalize – to make ourselves worry about it.
The problem with this head-in-the-sand mindset is that it’s exactly that: it's putting our heads into the sand and, like the bird-brained ostrich, thinking this solves all our problems.
When you turn off the TV in order to ignore the news flashing across your screen, the news just doesn't go away magically – your remote isn't a magic wand that removes all the problems from the world the moment you stop looking at them.
In the words of radio host and businessman, Dave Ramsey: “That stupid saying "What you don't know can't hurt you" is ridiculous. What you don't know can kill you.”
Recently, the Florida Legislature announced several bills that will be introduced in the 2020 session.
These bills range from fairly mediocre (designating coconut patties as the state's official candy) to fairly life-changing for Florida residents (various bills that will impact gun ownership, open carry and conceal carry permits).
It is easy to look at the Florida Legislature as one big, stormy ocean that the common man and woman have no ability to swim through or navigate; after all, there are thousands of bills filed for discussion and of those thousands, only a few hundred (at the most) will make it onto the floor, and even less will be passed.
The truth in the matter, however, is that without foresight, without watching, without knowing what is happening in our state's politics, we are worse off than a man floating about in the ocean with a life-vest – we have no idea where our government is going, how to approach contesting possible laws and what to prepare for as our laws change and evolve.
Frequently, you see people who are loud and vocal at protesting a law once it has been signed and passed – by then, it is practically too late.
Voters who are not aware, who play the “What I Don't Know Can't Hurt Me” game and who bury their heads in the sand and wait for things to become laws before making any noise, are not voters who make changes in our county, state and country.
“We the People,” and “Let our voice be heard” are all nice, lovely quotes to banter about whenever we are angry at current laws. But if, while laws are still being born and cultivated, you intentionally seek to hide from the news and ignore the bills that are in the legislature then those powerful, freedom-charged phrases lose their power.
As voters - and as Christians! - we are called to be aware, to be vigilant, to watch the world and prepare.
We should be involved in the news of the world, not fearful and apprehensive of it. We should know which laws are being discussed on the desks of our law makers. We should know what issues are the hot-topics of our communities.
Don't flip to a new channel when a presidential debate comes on, even if it is for a party that you don't vote for - it's important to know the views and possible policies of those who may eventually control our government.
Don't disregard the workings of local or federal legislature as a mystery - research the bills and potential laws that could influence your life.
Hosea 4:6 says: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" - in other words, what you don't know can, and almost certainly will, hurt you.
You can browse the bills that have been placed before the Florida Senate at flsenate.gov/Session/Bills/2020.