“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.” — Carl Sagan
As I have matured, one thing I’ve learned is that people’s opinions, including my own, aren’t nearly as significant or earth-shaking as I once thought. It’s OK to have them and use them as discussion starters when given the opportunity. But we should never use opinions as weapons to inflict harm or pain upon those who don’t share our views.
As a society we have lost our ability to differentiate between someone’s opinion and their worth. If we don’t like their opinion on a particular subject, we take it personal and remove them from our circle of friends. Some even claim they are being persecuted if someone disagrees with one of their cherished ideas.
“Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us” (Romans 12:3, NLT).
We need to hold our opinions loosely, especially during election cycles. They are not universal truths or time tested formulas that should be legislated by Congress. Rather, they represent snapshots of our thinking at particular moments in time, which may eventually change. Most opinions are not set in stone.
Next time you’re tempted to get your undies in a wad over what someone else has said, just remember, rich and divergent opinions keep the world interesting and alive. Do you really want everyone to think like you?
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