- do I have to condone or support such things? Should I remain silent?
I was expected to make noises which condone these behaviours. It is what other people are doing and I am expected to do the same.
Nobody expects me to condone the behaviour of fools who drink an excess of alcohol, get behind the wheel of a car, speed off and cause an accident in which law abiding citizens are killed or maimed for life. Why should equally stupid, selfish and arrogant behaviour be treated any differently?
It is stupid, selfish and arrogant to needlessly endanger the lives of other people and I will not condone that. It is stupid to take unnecessary risks. It is selfish to use resources others need and you do not need. It is arrogant to attempt to change the beliefs of others simply because of a belief that you are "right" and they are "wrong".
If the beliefs of others do no harm then, I believe, they should be respected. I have no right to impose my beliefs simply because I believe I am, in some way, superior. I am not. My beliefs are not. They are merely different. I do not have the right to change the location of the goal posts simply to give me an advantage.
By speaking out, however carefully, am I behaving in the same way as those whose actions I refuse to condone? Am I also being stupid, selfish and arrogant? Am I endeavouring to impose my beliefs on them?
I am still pondering this issue. "Never, 'for the sake of peace and quiet,' deny your own experience or convictions" Hammarskjold says. The problem is that I crave peace and quiet.
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3 comments:
Hmn...if you believe your opinions and actions to be the right ones for you, the ones you can live with yourself for, isn't that close to the bottom line? You carry your "I".
...and then put your fingers in your ears and be as ignorant as the next woman!
I see it as different. You are saying they can do what they want so long as they do not impact on the rights or resources of others.
They are not caring of what impact they have on others.
By law in most of our countries we have legislated that there are those times where the public good/public health over rides the rights/beliefs of individuals.
Classic examples of seat belts, air bags, limits to alcohol consumed and driving come to mind as well as limits to beating children and spouses.
We uniformly regulate the behavior of people.
Why shouldn't you be entitled to your opinion?
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