I can respect an educated opinion, even if I disagree with it.
I cannot respect an uneducated opinion,
or the one who holds it
I cannot respect an uneducated opinion,
or the one who holds it
There is a lot of heated emotion (and discussion and debate) swirling around right now in regard to recent political happenings in this country. Wild arguments rage on facebook threads and I imagine in many other places as well. I see people that I generally respect posting opinions with which I completely disagree.
Occasionally, very occasionally, politics and morality overlap. In those cases there really is a right and a wrong answer. But the rest of the time--truly the vast majority of the time--there is not a right and a wrong so much as just varying opinions. It makes me sad to see how difficult it is to find a solution that is satisfactory to everyone, and I wish it were simpler, but we are all different people in different situations with different priorities so different opinions are inevitable. I hope that continued efforts at changes will bring more satisfaction to a wider spectrum of the population.
In the meantime, I just have one simple thing to say to everybody out there who is sharing their political opinions: please do your research. If you want to bash on a certain system, make sure you actually know about that system (not just that you've heard a few disgruntled stories). If you want to praise a system, the same applies. Don't be passive. Write letters to your congressmen--whether you love things or hate them, you have a right to tell your representatives so, because you voted them in and you can vote them out again. Once you have done your research, write blog posts or letters to editors. And finally, be open to shifting your views (I frequently find that the world--especially the political world--is not very cut and dried, and that there is good within 'bad' things, and bad within 'good' ones). I have always had a lot of opinions about things, and they have not always all stayed the same--the world is always changing, we are always changing, and it is only logical that our opinions should change with us.
I completely agree. I know nothing about politics. They have never appealed to me...until now. At least, the health care bill interests me a great deal, because of my love of midwifery and my desire to become a midwife. I wonder how the bill will affect that desire.
ReplyDeleteMy family is actually getting together with another (more politically inclined, and non-partisan) family this Monday for a FHE discussion on the recent political happenings. I think it will be a very enlightening and informative evening! I hope to leave with greater understanding, and the knowledge of "what to do next?".
I've been wanting to ask you - since you're reasonable and also religious ;) - what do you say to people who bring religion into it? I do NOT want to hurt feelings and I really don't want to say anything bad about a religious view. I am not happy with this particular issue for various reasons but I can see some good in it and I am hopeful for something new. We NEED something don't we! People keep posting the most insane comments on any facebook status or link and I just keep saying - READ the bill. Just please for goodness sake go read the dang bill!!!! Instead of reading it, or commenting reasonably, they post Pres Benson quotes or videos. How can I argue with that? And how does that make our brothers and sisters in other areas feel who are enjoying socialized medicine? Evil?
ReplyDeleteI just want to say I love that you are so respectful of everyones views and opinions, especially when they differ from yours! Not everyone is so kind!
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