Opinions

Where did you get your political opinion?  For some of us, it just gradually grew out of the environment we grew up in.  For others, at some point (often in adolescence) there was a radical rejection of the beliefs of home and parents, and a strong need to be different.  For still others, some kind of epiphany or sudden realization came, as a result of a cross-cultural experience, a college course, a personal relationship, or some other new exposure.

But you notice, I don’t add that someone persuaded you by their careful, logical argument to change your opinion.  I think this rarely, if ever happens.  My opinion is a part of me, and it’s deeply rooted in the story I tell myself about the universe I inhabit.  Everyone’s opinion is like that – almost sacred - a part of their identity, not a superficial or readily changing whim.

Lately, however, there seems to be a widely felt sense that people arrive at their opinion by carefully considering the facts and reasonable foundations of things and develop a political position as a result.  Which leads immediately to the thought that all I have to do is reproduce the logical steps and carefully reasoned positions I followed and any reasonable person will agree with me.  And then it’s very surprising and disappointing when they don’t.  What’s wrong with these people, are they stupid?  Are they deluded?

No, they are not stupid, they just don’t agree with your reasoning.  And, if you are honest with yourself, you begin to see that before you held this opinion, you wouldn’t have agreed with your reasoning either.  The opinion comes first, roots itself in the story you have about reality, and then the rationale comes later.

I’d like to advocate for a recovery of the belief that other people’s opinions are sacred, not subject to argument.  I think we could avoid a lot of problems this way, from name-calling to “alternative facts” (which are just explanations for why I believe what I do).

If we held everyone’s opinion as sacred, we could discuss with them about facts and about proposed policy changes without requiring the fact to force the person to adopt a new opinion.  A part of any discussion of this nature would be to share the story that led you to the position you now hold (not the reasons, not the facts, but the inner conviction).

This would allow each of us to use the same facts to argue for different approaches to policy.  We can do that because we hold different values and different long-term goals for our society and community, but we can still agree on what the facts actually are and how they influence our thinking.