Yesterday, my husband caught up with an old schoolmate online. When the woman found out he had worked in the Bush administration, she cut him off with "We have nothing in common. Since you don't share my opinions, I have no reason to talk to you."
"How do you know?" Job asked her. "You have no idea what I think."
She responded with a list of all the hot-button issues and her stance on each of them. She then basically said that if he didn't agree with her straight down the line, they had nothing to talk about. The irony was her inconsistency. For instance, she's for animal rights, but she enjoys eating meat. (Job informed her that he's for people's rights, but he doesn't eat much meat and I'm a vegetarian.)
The clincher, of course, is that she can't stand conservatives because we're intolerant.
You know, refusing to talk to people who hold different views is like thinking you have nothing more to learn after you graduate from high school. It's like visiting another country but insisting on staying at American resorts, eating American food and hanging out only with Americans (who share your opinions, of course). It's like reading only one book, singing one song and wearing the same outfit every day for the rest of your life.
It is a lonely life devoid of adventure and intellectual growth. It is the ignorance of intolerance.
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I couldn't agree with you more! How's that for agreeing with someone who often holds a different point of view?
ReplyDeleteThe incident you describe reminds me of a lesson I learned in one of my science classes as an undergrad. We were learning about evolution and I was being a royal pain in the back-side, pushing my views (based on my religious upbringing), and offering argument after argument about what was being presented. After one particulary vehement question, my professor responded, "Ms. Harvey, don't presume you know what I believe simply because I am lecturing about evolution. You have no idea what I personally believe. That's what good professors do. They teach their subjects without bias." I was soundly (and deservedly) put in my place. That professor later became a good personal friend and mentor. His opinions about theistic evolution have informed my own thinking on the topic a great deal. And if you don't agree, and you prefer a 7-day view of creation, that's your perogative. The point is that we can and should learn from people who hold different views.
Your husband called out the contradictions in my own thinking about capital punishment. I used to be for it. Yet, when I really stopped and thought about it, it was in direct contradiction to my prolife stance. And I don't buy the "an eye for an eye" argument. Jesus himself questioned that approach in the Sermon on the Mount.
I'm not in agreement with the rest of my party on several things, but for me, it is about looking at the entirety of the platform and deciding which party (and more importantly which CANDIDATE) most closely matches my views. Single issue voters drive me crazy because they never bother to learn about issues beyond the one they say they care the most about.