Thursday, April 17, 2014

A-Z Challenge O is for Opinion Poll

It’s time to participate in the April A-Z Blog Challenge.  I will be blogging every day in April, with Sunday’s off. 
The topic for each day will begin with the designated letter of the alphabet.
This Thursday’s letter is O.

Once upon a time,  I was adamantly certain of how things were, how they should be.   I was strict and rigid.  I knew all there was to know.  It was either black or it was white.  It was either right or it was wrong.  By rote I spouted what I heard and what I was told.  I accepted it as the truth.


For instance I recall those Public Service Announcements which ran on TV in
the ’80’s during the “War on Drugs” campaign.   “This is your brain…This is your brain on drugs.”  That ad influenced me and I became staunchly anti-drug, particularly pot.
In this time, two states have legalized recreational marijuana.  For various reasons, too numerous to list here, I have become more liberal minded regarding the use of marijuana.

As the boundaries of my world expanded so did my level of tolerance.
Recently, ABC News reported, “Mozilla co-founder CEO Brendan Eich, who came under fire this week for donating to a campaign to ban gay marriage in California, has resigned.  Eich, who became the CEO of the nonprofit company behind Mozilla Firefox on March 24, had donated $1,000 for the successful Proposition 8 ballot measure that passed in the November 2008 state election.
In a personal blog Mr. Eich made a statement saying: "I am committed to ensuring that Mozilla is, and will remain, a place that includes and supports everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, age, race, ethnicity, economic status, or religion.

Should Eich be held accountable and lose his job for a choice he made six years ago to support a cause in which he believed in at the time?

I have always believed that people should be allowed to love anyone they choose.   Many others, including highly visible public figures, have just recently had a change of heart regarding same sex marriage.

I have faith that people, through personal growth, can develop an empathy for their fellow human beings.  It may just take a little time and effort, that’s all.

Everyone has an opinion about everything.   I would say trust your instincts and have faith in our common humanity.  If those are your convictions,  your opinions will stretch and expand but will not stagnate.

I now know that I know nothing.  There is no certainty about anything.  I have learned that there are far more than fifty shades of gray.  Mostly, I have figured out that I can form my own opinions.

So what do you think?

Why not check out some of the other 2033 participants in the April 2014 A-Z Blog Challenge.





13 comments:

  1. As I've aged I've become both more and less tolerant. More tolerant in respecting other opinions, but less tolerant in suffering bigots.

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  2. I try not to spend too much time judging the opinions of others. So long as they do no harm to anyone. That's where I draw my line in the sand--if it does harm, then it's wrong.

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    1. We obviously all do not have to agree. An exchange of ideas is a good thing as long as it’s done in a civil manner.

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  3. I think I am pretty open minded, at least more open minded than I once was. My 16 year old often points out situations where I should relax and "let it go". Even if I am set in my opinions about some things, I am accepting and tolerant of those who have a different view than I.

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    1. Sixteen year old’s do seem to know a lot, don’t they? Having strong convictions is a good thing and so is being tolerant of other’s beliefs.

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  4. Blogger ate my comment...

    Let's ban all marriages, date and get along, and smoke a little weed. My long weekend has started, and I'm feeling a little goofy. (Just drinking a diet coke.)

    Like your blog! Have a good weekend.

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  5. A most liberating feeling is knowing it is okay to have an opinion and that it is okay to change it.
    Gail visiting for AtoZ

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  6. We're free to voice our opinion and it is our right to change that opinion if we choose to do so. That's what makes each person different in their own way. AtoZer http://www.writer-way.blogpost,com


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    1. That’s how I feel too. Thanks for visiting.

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  7. As you probably know from reading my posts that touch on the topic of gay marriage, I most definitely do not support anything like Prop 8. However, I think what was lacking in the discussion of Eich's situation is/was the possible impact of the passage of time on his attitudes/opinions. People do change and grow so it is possible that he has had a sincere change of heart. Do we know where he stands on this issue today? Another thing is that opinions are one thing, but action is another--if he contributed in 2008 to a campaign to pass a law intended to deny gay citizens civil rights that is different from merely thinking gay marriage is "wrong" in some moral or abstract fashion. So--even if his opinion on the issue hasn't evolved, that could probably be forgiven or overlooked so long as he has stopped trying to impose his opinion upon others. Ultimately, of course, as far as I can tell, no one looked anywhere near that deeply into the situation.

    So should we be held responsible not only for our current opinions/views (and the actions we take or fail to take as a result of them) but for any opinion/action we've ever held? I kind of hope not...for all sorts of reasons, but most of all because that sort of logic seems to deny or ignore that evolution and growth are possible.

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