Offending Opinions

One of the ministers at the monastery posted this little tidbit, and I was amazed at how many of us actually identify with it.  Maybe it has to do with learning that you're not responsible for everyone else's happiness, or that you really don't give a rat's patoot what other people think of you.

Opinions can, at times, be offensive.  Oh, hell, let's not sugar coat it.  For some of us opinions are, more times than not, offensive.  One of the blessings of a free society and a free will is that you can ignore what you don't find acceptable, change the channel, find another article, and always voice your own opinion regardless of what anyone tells you to the contrary.  It is not your fault that the some people are proud, lifetime members of the League of the Perpetually Offended.

In posting about religion, and such, I have run into quite a bit of this.  Being tolerant of other people's opinions does not mean having to agree with them.  Sometimes just being tolerant of the opinion is tough enough.  One of my failings is that, if I don't agree with your opinion, I will beat that rabbit to death, run it over with the lawn mower, set it on fire and, "Damn the torpedos!  Four bells.  Captain Drayton, go ahead!  Jouett, full speed!"

Not one of my shining attributes.  Mother always said my mouth will get me into trouble.  I'm happy to report she was right as always, and it still does.  For most of us, religion, politics, free speech, and patriotism make a volatile combination due to the high emotion which runs through the subject matter for, just about, everybody.

I guess, for me, the bigger question would be why we offend, and why we are offended.  I think, for the most part, we offend because we are offended, or threatened.  It is a knee jerk defense mechanism when all good sense on both sides of an argument seems to have gone south for the duration.  I would think this reaction might be excused if the comment was aimed at one who was dying or dealing with some debilitation.  If you haven't walked a mile in their shoes... I think you get my point.  But, even where death is concerned, I would think that if you are at peace with the facts and ready to move on, the possibility of being offended would seem small potatoes for you.

If I have not offended you, yet, grow a broad set of shoulders, a thicker skin, learn to let crap roll off your back, and rest assured, I will get to you soon whether I intend to or not.  However, try to remember it is all just opinion, and our ability to voice opinion is one of the few freedoms we, as a society, have not had taken from us, yet.  So... Exercise it!  Don't worry about people's opinions of you when you do exercise it, because if we are concerned about  what others think of us we might never voice our opinions or have meaningful conversations.  We would all agree with each other, and how boring would that be?  The trick here is to put on your "big boy" pants, wade into the fray, take no prisoners, and at the end of the day take everyone, even those that haven't agree with you, out for beer and pizza.  Call each other names, slap each other around, make rude comments about each other's lineage, and then shake hands and a big kiss.  It is all just opinion!  Try to learn not to take everything so damned personal.

"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact.
Everything we see is perspective, not the truth."

-- Marcus Aurelius (121-180 A.D.), Roman Emperor, Stoic philosopher

But, opinion is not necessarily based on fact.  In a free, democratic society we rely on news agencies and journalists to give us the information required to make informed and intelligent decisions.  When these "news" agencies stop reporting facts and begin reporting opinion, or worse, when they bow to political pressure to report only that which is politically correct, we are left with information of questionable validity.  In the political arena it means the government has lost the trust of the people.  In religion it becomes a war of intolerance against those of differing faiths, or no faith at all, and God becomes the big loser of the trust of the faithful.

Whenever we hear news or intelligence reports, we need to have the facts; who, what, when, where, how, and why.  If any one of these is questionable we need to be advised of such, and if perspective is given in place of fact this also needs to be told to us up front.  Perspective should not be based on personal bias but, rather, on those facts which are known.  Quotes should not be taken out of context, either.  Presenting information out of context, whether it's jobs numbers, unemployment numbers, or Holy Scripture, is just lying by omission.

"There are lies, damned lies and statistics."

--Mark Twain

News agencies have been mired down in personal opinion, not perspective and certainly not in factually reporting the news.  This is not a new problem.  When I was in military Intelligence, we fell back on the Christian Science Monitor so many times for factual reporting that it became part of our annual subscriptions.  You could pretty much trust their analysis would be more spot on than government intelligence agencies.  I haven't read the CSM in years, but I hope they have continued this philosophy of reporting facts.  Instead of getting better, news reporting in general  has become a complete disaster to the point that reporters are dictated which stories to run with by virtue of whether it embarrasses the government or the President; print the facts and lose your job.

"The slickest way in the world to lie is to tell the right amount of truth at the right time - and then shut up."

-- Robert A. Heinlein, "Stranger in a Strange Land"

Reporting should follow a logical process of thought so people know what to expect.  Report the facts, report perspective based on the facts before stating any opinion of the perspective.  This opinion of the perspective should be what leans your reporting left or right of center, but the facts should never be colored by opinion or it is not credible journalism or reporting of the news.  Reporting the facts allows the reader to make their own conclusion to agree or disagree with the reporter's analysis, perspective, or opinion.

Is it any wonder we have Houston pastors being ordered by the mayor to turn over all of their sermons, riots in Missouri over facts that are held back in favor of assumption, or a Catholic pope of change that we fear might crumble and become another puppet of the ultra-conservative Vatican.

If you question this opinion of mine, good for you!  Now, do your own due diligence.  Go online and read some foreign newspapers.  See what they're reporting overseas that we aren't hearing at home.  Check out their opinion of us as a country, our leaders, and our world credibility.  Check out how "peaceful" Islam is really slamming hardline and radical Islamic thought over the terrorism issue.  This reporting is something we never hear, and it makes one wonder why.  More importantly, it should make us wonder what else the news and, by extension, the government aren't reporting factually if at all.

"Every time I write something, I think, this is the most offensive thing I will ever write.  But, no.  I always surprise myself."

-- Chuck Palahniuk, novelist and freelance journalist

I make a sincere effort at the end of every post to inform my readers that this is all just my opinion.  As an opinion it is a perspective based on information that can be of questionable validity.  Opinions presented in this context are springboards for conversation and debate.  Sometimes the opinions can be offensive.  I would like to say the offense is not intended but, more times than not, it is, and I apologize for that.  If I haven't named you, try not to take it personally.  It is intended as a cold slap to an unsuspecting face in order to illicit a response, a contrary opinion, to wake up the spiritually lazy and/or those in a self-imposed emotional coma.  Hopefully you will continue to follow The Path through the holiday season and into the New Year.  Hopefully I will find some time to write, or someone else will send a guest post and give me a mental break (I could have phrased that better).

Also, I hope you will comment, or at least develop an opinion of your own, pro or con.  Agreeing with me is not necessarily the right course, it is just my course.  I do not edit comments to the posts, as long as they are reasonable.  If I do,  I will explain what the change was so the comment is not taken out of context.

"People misinterpret what I say all the time:  They think I'm being offensive, when really, I'm only being opinionated."

-- Taylor Momsen, actress, musician, and model

Note from Pastor Tony, the founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance, as well as author and editor of "The Path," the Congregation's official blogsite:  

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion.  It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other.  An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so.

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion and debate in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth.  After over twenty years as a military intelligence analyst, planner, and briefer, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human.  God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.
  

Frank Anthony Villari, Pastor