It amazes me... how opinions tend to provoke people's emotional triggers.
It bewilders me...how people are so easily offended by opinions.
It is startling... how those outside my circle of influence believes it is their right to change my beliefs based on their opinion.
Do people really believe what they say they believe? If so, then why are they so easily influenced? Why do they become so emotional over opinions? Why are they offended?
Can a person be empathetic and compassionate to another's opinion and still hold true to their own beliefs? Our present culture is saying that a person cannot disagree in order to have empathy or compassion. Culture would try to convince me that if I do not agree with another's opinion, then I hate. This simply is not true for all, but it may be true for some. It isn’t true for me.
I believe what I believe. I allow you to believe what you believe. Your truth is your truth. Mine belongs to me. I can believe you are right or wrong depending on my truth and I permit you the same liberty. Culture is trying to deny me that liberty.
If our culture intends to take away a person's truth, stripping away free will, creativity, and induvial identity, then we become a communistic culture. What another says, cannot change me unless I want to change. If it is forced upon a culture, it will cause rebellion. Rebellion leads to hatred.
My truth says: Love is a choice. Love makes room for all mankind. Love disciplines wrong behaviors. Hatred is a choice. Hatred destroys mankind. Hatred develops lawless and wicked behavior to which discipline no longer applies.
Rebecca D. Bennett