Social Commentary: The Courage of Conviction

Those who follow this blog and many of my Facebook entries may have noticed that I am strongly opinionated. Many would call that an understatement! In fact, some might even say that statement is the equivalent of saying that Andre the Giant was a large human being. Be that as it may, the POINT of creating the blog in the first place was to provide a forum for discussion beginning with MY point of view (POV) and encouraging others to share theirs. I am pleased and honored to say that the blog has accomplished most of that. People do read the blog and respond. Many agree with the POV taken by my blog entries. Often, many do not. I respect them all - even the ones that I know are wrong LOL! The blog's ultimate goal is to create a dialogue between people. In the end, "being right" is not most important. What IS important is that people are honest about their opinions, argue their points appropriately and effectively, and STAND UP for what they believe in i.e. have the courage of their convictions. If we can respect one another for those qualities, we will really have accomplished something here.

I know that I have stood behind every statement that I have ever made on this blog - even ones that I regretted when viewed with hind sight. I have apologized for mistakes that I have made. And I always try for balance in my entries. But people must also understand that entries made as commentary are exactly that: commentary. Therefore, they are MY opinions of the way that things are, or, at least, as I believe they should be. And I never (well, almost never!) write with the intention of being mean spirited. However, because my opinions are strong and pointed, they are bound to be, sometimes, controversial. They can certainly piss people off. Because of those opinions, I have been insulted by some. I have been "de-friended" by others. I was even threatened with a libel lawsuit by another. So, I know what it's like to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. And, to quote the bard again, I have decided to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them. I have never retracted a single opinion that I have made on this blog. I might be so bold as to say that, indeed, I do have the courage of my convictions. I BELIEVE in what I write and I am always willing to defend it.

Unfortunately, this has not been the case with some of those who have chosen to respond initially only to "bail out" and remove their responses when confronted with their veracity or intention. Sure, sometimes the discussions can heat up to the point where they become almost arguments rather than discussions. Since I tend to argue my points with great passion, as do many others who respond in opposition of those points, this is bound to happen. I love to cross swords with a good opponent! When this happens I always remind myself to keep it respectful and encourage others to do the same. Still, at some point, despite one's persuasiveness and passion, the discussion must end, often with the statement, let's just agree to disagree. This is fine but not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about those who write something and don't just retract what they just wrote but remove it entirely! And this has happened to me on a number of occasions. The first time I encountered this was during a relatively innocuous discussion between a few friends on Facebook. During the course of the discussion thread, someone wrote something to me that I saw as derogatory. It was, in my opinion, homophobic. When I responded expressing my displeasure at his remarks, his original response suddenly disappeared from the thread and he replied, "what insult are you doing about"? Had he the courage of his convictions he would have:

a. Defended his original statement.

b. Made light of the statement by saying it was meant to humorous and I overreacted.

c. Apologized.

Certainly, don't run like a coward and erase the damned thing! If you said it, then you damned well better stand by it.

The example that I gave above was a relatively harmless one; the insult was, I believe, meant to be humorous. But, in the end, he realized that it was not, ran from the responsibility that goes with having written it in the first place and erased his response. However, this was a relatively benign example. I have experienced others who have removed things that they KNOW, when read by others, would expose their hidden agendas like racism, sexism, and homophobia. Once they have been called to task to defend their positions, POOF, just like magic, all of those responses suddenly disappear - as if they had never been said by them in the first place. This, of course, in the ultimate sense, proves how wrong they are. Their positions become indefensible - they no longer exist, literally. My point is that, if your thinking lands you in those controversial areas, you had damned well be prepared to defend them because I am going to vigorously defend my damned position in opposing you! I can stand the heat in my kitchen. The question remains, can you?