"I have an opinion. It's a valid opinion too, because all opinions deserve equality in their acceptance. So I want you to listen to my opinion, accept it, and hey--I expect you to automatically love everything about it. What's that? You have an opinion you want to share with the Marketplace of Free ideas too? Great! Wait--your opinion is a traditional one that goes completely against my opinion? Then sit down and shut up. You're not allowed to have an opinion. We don't want to have any bigots or haters here."
I see scenarios like this happening day after day in our society. True, it's never stated as bluntly as that, but in essence, the above is what it boils down to. This argument has been used for centuries and for many different topics. One of the most current issues is that of an acceptance and embracing of a gay lifestyle.
I personally cannot support a LGBT life choice/style. I hold to a traditional view of marriage, one that has its roots in the Bible and a Christian faith in God. Plain and simple. That's how I view relationships. But a view like that is met with such hostility now. "It's people like you who would have us living in the Dark Ages! You're just full of hate, and you're teaching your children to be full of hate too!" That's the general response to a view like mine. The only reason this response holds any clout is because it works from a lot of misconceptions.
Misconception # 1: Tolerance. Society's acting definition of tolerance is that only the popular, mainstream ideas can be accepted and encouraged. Anything else has no place, and must be shut down immediately. True tolerance is recognizing differences, and working together peacefully despite those differences. It's like we tell our young children: You may not agree, but share/work together/play nicely anyway.
Misconception # 2: People ARE their actions. The two can't be separated. But we know that's not true. An occasional beer does not an alcoholic make. Nor is smoking or drug abuse necessarily life-long difficulties. A night owl may still have to wake up early for work. Bottom line--our actions are the results of our choices, and as such can be modified.
Misconception # 3: Faith is for those who lack reason. To say that there are no intelligent people who have a saving faith in Christ is ridiculous. I know a lot of smart people who not only believe in the message of the Bible but have also put in quite a few hours into the study of what they believe. Yes, sometimes it appears like science and the Bible are at odds, but science still has many unsolved mysteries to it. We really DON'T know everything.
There are other misconceptions involved, but many can be tied back to these three. And after (or sometimes even before) these misconceptions can be dealt with, someone always tries using the argument that claims truth is relative. "What's right for you isn't what's right for me." This argument, again ages old, is idiotic.
Nothing in this world actually works in a 'relative truth' fashion. For instance, the average workday goes from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, and employers expect their employees to comply to that. Imagine this scenario: "Mr. Boss, sir, I know that you pay me to come in at 8:00 and work till 5:00, but I feel like that's just not right for me. So from now on, I'll come to work at noon and leave around 3:00. But you can still pay me the same." "Well, Mr. Employee, you are no longer required to come to work at all. You're fired."
No matter how one might wish to live in a world where truth is relative, one cannot get away from absolute truth in this world. (And for the record, there's no colonies of humans on other planets. That's still science fiction. Sorry.) We see absolute truth in how our society works, and even in how the earth itself functions. Math, for instance, is a major component of human life that is always absolute truth. Under relative truth, I could argue that all grass always appears pink. But science has told us that is impossible because of how the chloroplasts function in plant cells. So no matter how you slice and dice it, truth is always absolute.
My general point to all of this is to highlight how the Marketplace of Free Ideas has become a huge joke, and maybe provide a little insight as to what the problems are and how they can be fixed. Call me traditional and idealistic, but I'd like to see FREEDOM of speech restored to all before it's gone for good.
