Yes, I happen to like the songs from High School Musical, and yes, some of Justin Bieber’s songs make me want to dance, and yes, I have some opinions that others don’t agree with, but they are my opinions, and I will stand by them even when they are not popular.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld, the writer, said, “Nothing should so much diminish the satisfaction which we feel with ourselves as seeing that we disapprove at one time of that which we approve of at another.”
Now, I understand that our opinions can change, but why is it that everyone I know who used to love the Twilight books now hates them? Why do the people who used to love the Disney movies now hide that fact in the back of their minds like a bad memory? Why do our opinions change according to what is and is not popular?
Don’t do that. Don’t hate something just because everyone else hates it. Don’t love something just because it’s popular right now. Make up your own mind about what you like and dislike and then stand up for your opinions.
“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect,” Mark Twain said.
Sticking to the majority by not making your own choices and not having your own opinions can be very dangerous. The danger that can result from blindly following the crowd and propaganda can be seen clearly just by glancing at history.
During World War II, Nazi propaganda was one of the many methods Hitler used to persuade the masses that Jews were to blame for the nation’s problems and that he was their last hope. Hitler did not invent the ways in which he convinced people to side with him, but he demonstrated many of the dangers that can come from mobilized mass thinking.
Henry David Thoreau said, “If both of us were the same, one of us would be unnecessary.” Don’t get mad at someone when they have an opinion that differs from your own. If we all thought the same way, the world would be a pretty boring place and we wouldn’t learn much.
I recently saw a Facebook conversation in which church doctrine was being discussed between Christians and non-Christians. When the discussion started getting heated, the typed words were being capitalized and bolded, and exclamation marks flew across the page. No matter what you are discussing, it is important to remember that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and we should not be mad at the fact that someone does not agree with everything we say.
We all have our own opinions, and we have the right and responsibility to stand up for those opinions in a way that acknowledges the fact that our opinion is not the only one out there.
We are all different, and that is what makes us special. So, don’t be embarrassed by your love for country music or your passion for Disney movies.
As Doug Floyd said, “You don’t get harmony when everybody sings the same note.”
Sing your own special and unique part in this song of life, and don’t let anyone else tell you that you have to change your tune.
Good point about sticking to the majority is not really having an opinion.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the blog. It might read easier if you space between paragraphs. As it is, it is hard to pick out your points.
(This is Meg L. from Terre Haute if you didn't know.)