Ever have someone
tell you something along the lines of “If you REALLY knew about ___(fill in the
blank)____ , you would not support (agree/endorse) it, and would whole-heartedly
support __(fill in the blank__”?
I have had that
comment thrown in my face more times than I can count, and a couple of times
recently.
While the topics of
conversation were different each time, what I found interesting was that I
really DID know more about the situation, because of personal experience (or
being close to someone with personal experience), than the zealot who was
trying their hardest to shame me about my personal decision or stance.
And it was BECAUSE
I really knew about ___(fill in the blank)__ that I either strongly supported
what they thought I SHOULDN’T be, or chose NOT to support what they thought I
should be.
One reason why I
personally don’t agree that people should be allow to publicly protest, is
because the people protesting, more often than not, have no idea what the real
situation is that they are protesting against, and unfortunately, they would
rather make a big spectacle than learn the truth of the situation.
That is also why I
tend to not believe most protesters' views, and prefer to get my information
from the people who are actually living and dealing with the particular
situation.
We are all allowed
to have our own opinions about pretty much anything and everything under the
sun. While that is a good thing (generally),
if you are going to pressure someone to change their stance on an issue, you
better make darn sure you know what the issue is!
I don’t know about you, but I really miss the days when you could have a discussion with a person, and be on completely opposing sides of an issue, and that was a GOOD thing, because it made the conversation more interesting. Differing perspectives on life aren’t a bad thing.
Beth
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