A brief twitter discussion with @randamusprime made me realize exactly what I was saying when I responded to her.

She said that she's against gun control and I said that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. That's what makes this country (supposedly) so great.

Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of things I love about living in America. I love the fact that I can disagree with the government and not get thrown in jail or shot. I love that I can have any religious beliefs (or lack there of) that I choose. There are a great many things that I do love about this country.

And given the fact that the supposed gun control that's in place clearly doesn't work I can understand why someone might be against it, even though I am for it.

I realized that what I was saying had nothing to do with the country itself but the people living in said country. There are a lot of people that live here in America that are of the mindset "everyone is entitled to their own opinion as long as it's the same as mine."

America was founded on a difference of opinion, essentially. We are supposed to be a nation of free thinkers. We're supposed to be able to say what we want, when we want (to an extent) without fear of persecution. This is supposed to be a place where you can say "I don't agree with you" and it's perfectly okay. You can have open and honest discussions and the only consequence should be a broadening of one's horizons.

That is not the case, however. Rather than embracing differing opinions, we belittle and demean those who don't agree with us. We tell people who don't have the same faith that they are wrong and going to hell because they don't believe what we do. We bash those who dare stand out in a crowd. If you're different than there must be something wrong with you.

I don't think like that. Of course, if I believe that I am right I will fight you tooth and nail if you tell me I'm wrong. That is, unless you show me proof that I am wrong. Then I apologize and accept that I made a mistake. There are a lot of people in this country that will continue to fight you even if you can definitively prove that they are wrong beyond a shadow of a doubt. That is the kind of idiocy that made me add that (supposedly) in there.

I love having discussions with people that don't necessarily believe the same way I do. I like it even more when people can support their opinions. There are too many people in this country that the only answer to "Well, why do you think that?" is because their parents thought that. Or their grandparents thought that. They're afraid to be different because it's hard. There was a man that I knew that was once asked "Why are you a Democrat?" and his response was "Because my Daddy was a Democrat." "Well, why was he a Democrat?" "Because his Daddy was a Democrat." And that was his only answer.

We need to stop the nonsense. We need to embrace open and honest discussion of ideas. We need to accept that not everyone believes the same way we do. When I was in high school, I thought at the time that I was a Christian. I had some Christian friends, but there was one girl that I used to eat lunch with that was raised on the Native American beliefs. One day, I asked her about them and sat there, listening intently as she told me them. It was very fascinating. I don't remember most of it, to be honest, but that was 15+ years ago. After lunch, one of my "Christian" friends pulled me aside and asked me why I listened to this girl about her non Christian beliefs. He then basically told me that I was going to go to hell because I didn't try to convert her to Christianity. That I was wrong in actually listening to her about her religion. I asked him "Which is more effective, telling her about my beliefs and listening to her about hers, or simply telling her about my beliefs and refusing to discuss anything else?" He didn't have an answer for that.

I have always been of the mind to tell someone what I think and say "If you have any questions, you know where to find me" and leave it at that. If they want to talk about what they believe, even if I don't agree with them, I am willing to listen, as long as they were willing to listen to me. It's a fair trade off. You listen to me, I listen to you and we talk.

There are too many people that only want to talk, they don't want to listen. They're so afraid that they might actually be talked into changing their mind that they're not willing to discuss anything other than what they believe. There are people that would call @randamusprime an idiot and actually stop following her simply because of her thoughts. They would tell her she's wrong and leave it at that. There would be no discussion of why she feels the way she does. No sharing of "this is why I believe in it" or anything like that. Just a simple "you're stupid" and "unfollow" and no more listening.



I don't usually go on and on about stuff like this, especially here, but I just felt the need to clarify myself. I do believe that America is a great nation for many reasons, but I believe that there are a lot of people in this country that seem to have forgotten a lot about why this country even exists. Freedom of Speech doesn't just apply to people who have the same thoughts and opinions you do. It applies to everyone. Freedom of Religion doesn't just talk about Christianity. It means EVERY religion. Whether you agree with their beliefs or not.

And that is the end of this rant. Now that I've gotten it all out, maybe my brain will let me go to sleep.