Think for yourself

Over the course of the last several weeks, since the Shiavo case hit the public consciousness (through the media's choice of coverage), I have taken an interest in reading what people write in the "Letters to the Editor" in the primary newspaper I read to get a handle on public opinion. And, to my surprise, I have found that many of the folks who have taken time to write in have views that are similar to those already voiced in this blog.

What I found disturbing was a trend for people to jump to conclusions about "other people's" opinions based on their stance on the Schiavo issue. Threads that I saw through a number of these included: Terri should live=abortion is bad=the Iraq war is good=the death penalty is good="people who don't believe like me are bad".

So let's follow the logic through these positions: Life is good, so Terri (and all other folks who have at least minimal function) should live. Abortion is "killing babies", so life is good. Still self-consistent.

The Iraq war is good. Many thousands of Iraqis have been killed, along with over 1500 of our troops, fighting over fictional WMDs based on falsified and trumped-up "intelligence" reports. But life will be better for those still around after, so we're still self-consistent, I guess.

The death penalty is good because it protects the rest of us from "bad" people. People who do "bad" things. Kill people who don't believe like me. In this case, life is bad because of choices someone made.

There are two problems with this line of thinking. First, we don't live in a perfect world where all people who are convicted of murder charges and sentenced to death actually did the crime. Many convictions have been brought into question and overturned based on faulty evidence or a variety of other issues, and yet we still kill others imprisoned by the same system. Why? "The deterent value." Just don't be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The second, bigger problem, is being self-consistent in your reasoning. If you espouse a "Right to Life", that should mean under any circumstances. Anti-abortion - check. Terri Schiavo - check. War in Iraq - war can be justified in some cases but, in this case, no. Many innocent Iraqis and Americans are being killed for very little to do with "life". Capitol punishment - ah, no.

Which brings me back around to my original point. When it comes to considering your personal position on an issue, make up your own mind. Don't let political or religious dogma, or peer pressure for that matter, make up your mind for you. Make up your own mind based on your own beliefs, and don't be afraid to speak your mind.

But listen to what others have to say. Just because they don't happen to believe as you on one certain subject, that doesn't make them bad. And you shouldn't infer their positions on other subjects based on this one bit of knowledge. You may find that, on most issues, you actually agree and you may have found someone you want to be around and develop a relationship with.

That's the real beauty of the First Amendment. That, coupled with tolerance of "others'" viewpoints.