An Ounce of Moral Courage

By Al Horn

I was involved in a discussion of politics with some of my coworkers last week. There was talk of those who stood up for what they believed and how they were sometimes persecuted for said beliefs. At the same time we talked about those who would express their opinions behind the guise of playing the devils advocate. These people don't realize that more often than not, they are expressing an opinion just by being willing to discuss the other side of an issue. I personally will talk freely about anything that I feel I have an informed opinion on. I tend to shy away from subjects I feel I am a little in the dark about. There are times that I wish others would do the same.

One friend is quick to pronounce his views based on minimal information. He can swear up and down that he is speaking with the voice of authority. He will stand by his statements until proven otherwise. Sometimes this will involve looking the information up in black and white to prove otherwise. Sometimes, it only takes the right person to 'quote' something they recently read to invite a retraction. I admire this person for speaking out when they believe they have the facts straight. I just wish that they had correct information more than sixty or seventy percent of the time. Getting involved can be a good thing and for some it's healthy to speak your mind. I don't equate speaking your mind about subjects in general with speaking from your own personal convictions. Talking about things that are common knowledge is one thing, skating around some of the emotional quagmires of today's world is another.

In our modern day society there are a lot of 'touchy-feely' subjects. Many matters are an affair of the heart and can only be expressed as an opinion especially when there are no scientific proofs to fall back on. For most people it is not a problem to express an opinion. Where they flounder and sometimes choose to keep their opinions to themselves is when they are asked to explain what they base their opinions on. The reason for this is simple. Too many people are more interested in converting others to their side of an issue than respecting somebody's feelings about a subject. They want others to share their strong beliefs.

Some of my coworkers have strong opinions about certain topics and I respect those opinions. Sometimes, when things are slow, they will toss a subject out like a bone being thrown to a pack of dogs. If the subject has already been beaten to death it is rare that anybody will respond. On the other hand, if the topic is fairly fresh and extremely controversial, the howling can last for days.

Sometimes this is done to elicit more information about the topic and other times it is merely to engage in entertaining banter. I am fortunate that these people seem to know when to let things come to a conclusion. Sometimes these discussions end in an agreement or simply an agreement to disagree.

If only the rest of the world could act accordingly. The problem is that too many people are obsessed with their own points of view. Some people only look for a difference of opinion in order to make the other person or group look bad in some way while furthering their own agenda. There are those that will never speak their minds because they fear being ridiculed. If only these people could get the nerve up to tell the others to shut up and listen to what is being said. This would be courageous. The only thing that might show more courage would be for the loudmouths to actually stop and listen.