When you disagree with someone, do you completely dismiss them, or do you decide that their opinion, though different from your own, could also be valid?
That probably depends on the issue at hand, the opinion they express and the justification they provide for that opinion.
But what if the issue is something important, like the candidate they voted for or their views on issues of social justice? And what if their opinion seems absurd or even reprehensible to you? And, worst of all, what if their justification seems completely irredeemable?
It’s tempting to buy into the popular strategy of foregoing all discussions of money, politics and religion with the people we care about. When we head home for Thanksgiving in a few weeks, many of us will vow to avoid such conversations at all costs, especially with family members whose views clash with our own.
Part of this strategy makes sense. We don’t get to choose our families, and it’s easy to feel like politically charged conversations would create conflict far more often than they would foster understanding.
We do, however, get to choose our friends. And, if with no one else, it is important that we learn to talk to them not just about our own lives but also about the world around us.
With the presidential election coming up in just eight days, many of us are probably feeling exhausted from the past several months of partisan rivalry and are more reluctant than ever to talk politics unless we feel sure our audience is on our side.
It’s not all that likely, though, that even those we assume to be on our side will actually be in complete agreement with all our views. Finding points of contention, if done respectfully, can help make everyone involved a more informed and empathetic citizen.
And, because most of us will naturally turn to news sources that tend to show us the world as we like to see it, conversations with friends who challenge us to consider other perspectives are vital starting points for expanding our perceptions and questioning whatever biases we might harbor.
This is especially true when you consider that we are much more likely to give serious thought to ideas that come from sources we trust. It’s easy to ignore the hosts of talk shows whose opinions differ from ours because we have no personal interactions with them and feel distanced enough to dismiss them if we choose.
But when a friend whose input we value expresses an opinion we might otherwise reject, there is a stronger sense of obligation to examine the disparities between their stance and ours. Even if you come out of a conversation with the same opinion you started it with, close inspections of what you believe and why ensure that you are not becoming ignorant or complacent.
Of course the key in these conversations is keeping an open mind. This election cycle has been polarizing, and many of us have been left wondering how those who stand in opposition to us could possibly think what they think. But, as I have said before, you need not excuse or condone a person’s beliefs in order to understand where they came from. Ultimately, you just need to have the conversation.
mareklei@umail.iu.edu
@foreverfloral97
