The Purpose of This

I think that I am a reasonable person. Open ears lead to an open mind. Even though I am very opinionated about certain things, I beg to hear the opposing point of view. That is my entire purpose of this, the purpose of starting these blog posts. Just because certain things seem cut and dry to me, doesn’t mean that they are. The only way I will open my mind to another point of view is to listen to someone explain their way of thinking.

I find myself seeing, hearing, and reading many social topics in the media and I am baffled. As much as I have tried, I just can’t wrap my mind around certain things. Since I have been struggling with this for years, I decided to begin this blog. I want to understand. My hopes are to reach people and hear their thoughts on these current topics. I am not trying to push my beliefs or opinions on others, I am actually looking for others to change my mind if my way of thinking is flawed. Just because I do not understand while I am writing my post, doesn’t mean I won’t understand after hearing other point of views.

Respect

I do my best to be respectful, not only in my posts, but in person too. Even though I can be sarcastic at times, I mean no disrespect. That is just how I tend to get my way of thinking across. It may not be the best tactic, but I find myself doing it often. I do my best to reserve my sarcasm for my writing and not to direct it at any person or group of people. I know that getting angry and name calling isn’t going to get anyone anywhere. If we want to see change in this world, it needs to start with respecting others and their opinions.

I am not living in a fantasy world; I know there is no hope for everyone to always agree. But I do feel if we stopped fighting and verbally attacking each other long enough to listen to why other people feel the way they do, it can benefit everyone. All it should take to make some progress is a little respect for others and for what they have to say. That is the purpose of this.

Opinion

I have opinions. You have opinions. Everyone has opinions. We all have a right to our own opinion, even if it is not a popular one. Sharing your opinions and having a meaningful discussion about them is a great way to open your mind to others’ way of thinking. If you do not agree with someone and do not want to have a reasonable discussion, that is fine. Then do not have any discussion at all about the topic. There is just no reason to be insulting. No one gains from being rude.

Yes, we all can lose our cool, especially when you have an opposing opinion on a topic you feel strongly about. No, we will not keep our composure in every scenario in our lives. But we need to do what we can to keep ourselves in check to rationally get our opinions across. When you fly off the handle, no one will take you seriously. There are better ways to share your opinion. That is the purpose of this.

Purpose

My purpose for my blogs in general may be to try to open my own mind to other ways of thinking. But what is the purpose of this post in particular? Well, my last post, A Police Presence is Not Intimidating to the Innocent, brought some hostile comments. Someone called me a racist. Another said I was too ignorant to know what racism is. One told me that this post did nothing but spread false information. These were just a few of the unpleasant comments and they were cleaned up for this post. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but these comments are not respectful nor are they productive.

Ignorance

I have read and reread my previous post. Maybe I am too ignorant to know what racism is because I cannot find racism in my post. Nowhere did I talk about race. I can’t find where I even implied anything about race. In fact, race never crossed my mind while I was writing it. As ignorant as I find these disrespectful comments that are made just to inflame and not to open up a reasonable discussion, they do encourage me to question other people’s definition of racism. I am fairly confident that if I pursue that, the comments will be much worse than the comments I have received on A Police Presence is Not Intimidating to the Innocent.

As for the spread of false information, that confuses me just as much as the racism comment. This blog is mainly opinion based. I share very little facts in any of my posts. I have read and reread A Police Presence is Not Intimidating to the Innocent and still see it as mainly my opinion and my personal experiences. The one fact that I see stated includes the link from where I got my information. Maybe I’m just being ignorant again.

Moving Forward

I have no intentions of quitting this. Getting my thoughts out and sharing them with the world is something that I enjoy. It hasn’t been working out too well for me yet, but I still have high hopes of starting meaningful discussions about these posts. I really do want to hear what motivates others’ opinions and how they differ from my thought process.

I will not approve or reply to comments on here or on social media that are not meant to start a productive conversation. My plan is to continue to share my opinion and question why my opinion is not the popular one in hopes of understanding a different way of thinking. This is the purpose of this.

Crazy Babble or Just My Voice of Reason??

I end every post with this question. This is not just a rhetorical question; this is a question I want to know the answer to. I’m not really sure that this question applies to this post though. Is this crazy babble or just my voice of reason? I’m not sure that it is crazy, but it at least feels like babble. If you want to have a productive discussion, let me know your thoughts in the comments below and be sure to check out Worst on the First next week. Thanks for listening to the purpose of this.