Opinions

Opinions are rampant in the world around us. With the world’s population approaching seven billion people the number of opinions can probably be said to be around 10 billion—after all, there are times when we have different opinions on a topic, depending on the circumstances. As the 41st American president once said “I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don’t always agree with them.

That being said, I find it interesting that people seem hell-bent at times on changing my opinion. Over the years I’ve had contact with some friends and acquaintances who have tried to sell me on a particular political candidate, a cause, and on other occasion’s things such as new herbal supplements. Sometimes the way such opinions were delivered opened me up to be more receptive, and at other times these opinions were basically d.o.a (dismissed on arrival). While I agree that everyone is entitled to have their own opinions, this does not mean that some opinions are not right and some opinions are not wrong. For example, some people are of the opinion that there are many ways in which individuals can earn their way to Heaven. While individuals are free to believe that, if they wish, the creator of Heaven and Earth says there is only “one way” by which someone may enter Heaven. So, while people who believe something else are free to do so, it doesn’t make their opinions right.

In recent days I’ve been told, both directly and indirectly, that I’m not entitled to have some opinions I do. I’ve had some suggest that speaking my mind on some issues, in forum such as my own personal blog, is going too far. Some have felt judged by my own opinions, even when those opinions were expressed as merely that--my own opinions. In expressing my own opinions, I have never tried to strong arm anyone into believing anything exactly the way I do. However, at times I have tried to explain to others why I felt my opinion had some validity. Wouldn’t it be foolish of me to discount that I believe my opinions have validity, for if they were invalid in my own mind it would be foolish of me to hold such opinions. On the flip side, expecting others to buy into my opinions lock, stock and smoking barrels, would also be foolish. While some of my opinions are merely human opinions, some opinions I hold are grounded in absolute truth that God has given us in the Bible. Those opinions hold much more weight than the trivial opinions I hold on inconsequential matters.

Something that I, as well as others, need to keep in mind when trying to dissuade others from their firmly planted opinions is something that Hosea Ballou, an early American clergyman, once said: “The oppression of any people for opinion's sake has rarely had any other effect than to fix those opinions deeper, and render them more important.” This does not mean that I never try and show someone why I believe my opinions carry some weight, but it does encourage me to check my means of sharing such a message. After all, if I embolden someone into digging their feet in when I try to persuade them to consider a differing opinion to their own I’ve actually lost ground in my attempt to have them at least consider looking at things through the lens that I see them.

Another thing that sticks out to me is that as humans, instead of lemmings, we each are responsible for what we believe. We need to be willing to listen to others, but in the end we must not fall prey to what the French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville noted upon observing American society in the more than 150 years ago. de Tocqueville said “In the United States, the majority undertakes to supply a multitude of ready-made opinions for the use of individuals, who are thus relieved from the necessity of forming opinions of their own.” In the end, we must all realize that each of us is responsible to God for what we believe, and are not, ultimately, responsible for what everyone around us believes.