Let's agree to disagree.

Let's agree to disagree.

I have been absent from writing on this blog because as you can see from the previous one, I am not really sure what to write about. I’m a conservative Christian and I thought to myself, do I intentionally leave that part of my life out of the discussions on my blog? Here’s the thing though. I’m studying theology. Yup. Might be kind of hard to totally omit that part of my life. I felt I had to though because I wanted to have this be something accessible to all, and not really a place for moral and theological discussions. Funnily enough developing a new obsession (or shall we be “pc” and call it a persistent hobby) with reading the blog Apocalypstick has changed my mind for me. See, from what I can tell she is very “modern” and many of her topics are not even applicable to me, such as dating advice (I’ve been married 3 years and my current husband was only the second guy I dated), and premarital sex seems to be something that’s on the table, which is not something I personally agree with (I am aware I am part of the minority here). Thing is, I don’t take this offensively. I read her blog entries and realize her writing is really good and I can’t stop reading it. And on some level, even when stuff is mentioned I have never experienced in the slightest or even morally disagree with there seems to be some sort of foundation of relatability, maybe stemming from the fact that, contrary to the rumors, I’m actually human too.

Basically, you want it twittled down to the bare minimum, don’t want that when it comes to your cheeseburger, but fine. Basically: Can we all agree to disagree? In order to do that we may actually have to admit we have differences…verbally, audibly admit them. I’ve had this discussion with people who are just as conservative as I am and I asked why can’t we just say to each other, “I think you’re wrong” and a reply, “Well, I’m right, you’re wrong so screw you!” and then be friends? My fellow conservatives will reply that a better dialogue would involve phrasing such as “We disagree.” That may be so, but why bother? I think tolerance lies in being able to openly admit difference of opinion, which would necessarily involve the other person being wrong in your eyes. Then we just move on from there. Simple, done, dusted. I feel like trying to find peace through eliminating differing views implies that the only way I can respect and tolerate someone is if they either agree with me or pretend that they do. My opinion of others is not changed because of their religious, political or any other views. Even when I think they’re wrong. I have come across this idea in modern society that there is no truth and everyone is right in their own way. I have learnt even more about the more complex ideas behind this now dominant worldview within academia. A good example of this is the hypothesis that we can never truly convey our meaning properly to others in any sort of communication, but especially the written form. This entry for instance, would have a life and meaning of its own once I’ve written it, perhaps wholly unconnected to the author (me :D). The question that immediately came to mind was, “Then how do they know their hypothesis, communicated via the written word is understood the way they mean it or understood at all?” It seems counter-intuitive to me, as does this idea that no one is wrong because everyone is right. If I don’t believe that, if I believe some people are wrong, then that surely means that according to those people I am wrong about that, which means some people are wrong. Which means the hypothesis collapses. Make sense? No? Well, whatever, I’m just as right as you are, remember?

It saddens me to hear of people being arrested in America for airing their (not so popular) beliefs in public. It saddens me because as much as you lovely (and I mean that, dig most of you that I’ve met) Americans think that life is the same in other countries as it is in the USA, it’s not. I’m meant to be living in a free and democratic country but I feel like there are more things I’m not allowed to say than there are things I am allowed to say. TRUE Thing is, whatever you may be struggling with in terms of inequality, which seems to be homosexual marriage at the moment but there are other examples from the past and present too. That will never be as vital as Freedom of Speech. I’m not being heartless, it just seems to make sense to me, once you lose the right to freely voice your opinion what other rights are you going to lose and how quickly? In the Holocaust they first burnt books and then people, and it didn’t actually take that long for them to progress from the former to the latter. Even if I’m a wrong horrible person, why can’t I say I disagree with the hypothesis that homosexuality is natural or that there is more than one God and way to heaven? If I treat gay people and those of other religious persuasions with respect then why must I be forced to change my views? As much as we harp on about equality and freedom, using rhetoric that intimidates or denigrates those who disagree with you, even if they’re bigots in your mind, is bullying, in the same way that not only white people can be racists it is not only those groups perceived as being weak who can be bullied.

No matter what your views are I’m going to treat you as much like a human being worthy of respect as the person who holds no opposing views to me. Let’s feel free, in fact encourage, each other to agree to disagree.