By Chris Basten

  I did a rather wonderful thing for myself over my Christmas holiday: I consumed virtually no news sources. I may have peeked here and there but, overall, I greatly diminished my intake of any political events. I may have to do this more often. I felt quite happy for the most part during my news strike. I heard nothing of Iraqi wars, weapons of mass destruction, or Bushisms for the day. I did not hear about environmentalists chaining themselves to trees, the sin of driving SUVs, or people being tried for killing endangered squirrels. I heard nothing about the secular humanists' attack on Christmas, the immoral consumerism of the holidays, or the argument over "one nation under God." I didn't dabble in reports about how almost anything you eat can give you cancer, how the government wants to police obesity, or panicked assessments about the earth's water supply. Most importantly, I washed my hands clean of any political banter or opinions.

What this little venture taught me was priceless. I learned that regardless of whether or not I pay attention to the media, my life goes on. It reminded me of the days when I used to be ill-informed and impervious to current events. Being ignorant about the newsworthy events in the world can bring a sense of contentment. No wonder so many people don't know what is going on or care to look into it more. And why should they? As long as they have their jobs, food, a mall around the corner, and a TV in every room of the house, life is good is it not? Without the news to distract me over my long break, I actually paid full attention to my own needs and desires for a change.

I did pay attention to something else as well: Freedom of choice is a good thing. In a country that still prides itself on such a principle (though by a politically correct thread), the freedom to choose is what makes our nation great. I can choose to celebrate Christmas and consume all sorts of goodies or just spend time with my family. I can light a menorah or honor a Kwanzaa celebration. Or I can ignore everyone and spend time alone with one hand down my pants eating a whole block of Havarti cheese while I listen to an Aerosmith CD at home. Either way, I get to choose what I want to do with my time.

Other countries are not so fortunate. In far too many nations, women are still treated like lit bags of feces sitting on an unsuspecting neighbor's porch and the choice to practice or not practice religion as one wishes does not exist. I'm fortunate to live in America where I can select movies with gratuitous sex or wholesome films that would put my grandparents to sleep. Variety is the spice of life and the U.S. has plenty of it. For the most part, our nation still socks the rest of the world when it comes to representing a free market of goods, services, and ideas. Choices, and the freedom to make them, are what make America great.

More than anything, I learned that I truly value the people in my life that matter the most to me. Humans have a funny inclination toward eating up bad news. We are addicted to the earthquake stories that crush heads and limbs. We are glued to our TV sets when the bombs fly in Baghdad. We unconsciously like hearing about Hollywood stars who contract syphilis or get divorced for the 4th time in 3 months. When I took time for myself over the holidays and ignored the sensationalism that permeates our society, I found that my life is most precious when I focus on myself and the people I care about. Most days of the year I am sucked into current events and rumors like anyone else. Once I took time away from "the junk food media," I found what matters most and it sure wasn't politics. Perhaps spending most of my days reading up on political topics is what makes me value things like family, freedom, and happiness all the more.

Finally, my break allowed me to read part of the way through a book by one of my favorite authors: Philip Yancey. He is a fairly well-known Christian writer with a rather honest assessment of the church. Despite my disagreements with his God-believing philosophy on life, as an individual free to choose what kind of literature I would like to read, I enriched my humanistic perspective and understand more why he believes the way he does. In other countries of the world, Bibles are banished, death sentences can be used as a threat to believe as the state says you should, and civil war pollutes any sense of human decency and commerce. But because I live in America, an agnostic atheist had the opportunity to learn from a Christian's writings about the gift of humanity over his Christmas break. The freedom to do this was far more precious than missing a few days of politically correct nonsense will ever be. Being informed has its merits but taking a break from current events helped me realize that life isn't so bad after all. If only I could keep this in perspective year 'round.