Quote:
Originally Posted by Walter Sobchak
In an open discussion in my political science class, a student claimed that "before 'Shrub' took office and invaded Iraq, Americans never had to worry about terrorism at home or abroad."
I responded "Thats the dumbest thing anyone will hear all day. Americans have a long history of being victims of terrorism in and out of the country. Ted Kaczynski, Eric Rudolph, Tim McVeigh, Terry Nichols, Al-Qaeda (1993 WTC), the Beruit Embassy bombing, etc all pre-dated Bush's policies. To suggest that terrorism is some sort of new, Bush-induced phenomenon is flat out wrong."
I was promptly chastised by the professor and told its important to respect other peoples beliefs.
My question is this: Why? Why should I have to respect someones belief that I know to be flat-out wrong? In matters of opinion, I can understand a due respect. Some people believe the Rolling Stones were a better band than The Beatles. Fine, thats a matter of opinion. But when someone told you that they believed the world to be flat or that the Easter Bunny is real, would you respect that or immediately label them an idiot?
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Dude, yeah.. but.. it's all backwards.
Used to, you could count on someone to not be full of crap. You could expect that the person who spoke loudly, and with great confidence probably knew, and believed what he was talking about.
It's not so, these days. From the start of your social life to the end, you'll encounter all kinds of people who do not do because they can, they do because they're "supposed to."
If you're "Supposed to know things" so you "read newspaper titles" and you're "supposed to have an opinion" on world affairs.. you get -
Bush sucks
Terrorism
related
bad
obama
yay!
That is failure. That needs to be labeled failure. People need to know that they are failing when they establish a baseless belief on something totally circumstantial.
Instead, we need to look at terrorism as a development of a mind identical to our own, and try to understand how someone COULD feel "right" about destroying something we believe to be so beautiful, and fix it! The best way to end terrorism is to give the terrorists something about the country to love. Terrorists aren't terrorists, they're people just like you and I. Albeit their minds are stuck on some whacky thought chains, but these things can be remedied I think.
Furthermore, this is not to suggest that it is all because we are "supposed to" A lot of times you'll encounter a person who does not KNOW what to believe, but poses the same question other people you're "supposed to believe" have posed to gauge their responses to it, and compare it to ones self.
In an instance where someone speaking is not vocal or confident, expell what you believe if you wish for someone else to have a chance to grapple with your idea as well. That is your opportunity.
When you get the feeling that the person speaking doesn't really believe what he's saying, and in some cases it might sound like more of a question than a statement. Hit em hard at that point for best results, but if you're mean about it, you gotta be real good at wordcraft to have that person not instead be offended by what you say.