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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Your professor was wrong. What the other student stated was not a belief, but an incorrect opinion.
Aside from that, respecting other people's beliefs is simply a matter of being courteous and not telling them that your god will smite them for following a false god. It's just never a nice thing to tell people they're going to burn in hell or whatever punishment is doled out for non-believing heathens.