My Opinion on Opinions

So it seems society strongly dislikes, if not hates, the idea of opinions.  Of course, there are opposing viewpoints on almost every subject, and we all feel entitled to our own opinions.  However, as soon as someone has an opinion different than ours, we automatically jump to tell them how they are wrong, and basically tell them they are not entitled to their opinion.  In short, it generally boils down to "I'm right, you're wrong, you must agree with me".  I will be the first to admit that I am guilty of this.  I hear someone loves Nickelback, I jump over them about how Nickelback sucks.  We all do it.  And that's the problem.

Dictionary.com defines an opinion as: "a personal view, attitude, or appraisal."  That's the thing.  An opinion is personal.  So who are we to say what someone else should think on a certain issue?  This isn't to say that some opinions are certainly skewed.  For example, almost any normal thinking American would agree that rape and murder and morally wrong.  It would certainly be appropriate to explain to this person how these things are wrong.  There are certain things that can't be argued.

But in areas such as politics, media, and religion, no person should have any room to tell someone else that they are wrong.  Can I say that Soulja Boy is not the most talented musician?  Certainly.  But does that mean that someone can't like him?  I suppose not.  The problem is, by forcing our beliefs on others, we as a society have began to doubt our own beliefs and just follow the crowd because it's easier.  We need to learn to agree to disagree.

Certain views of mine, mostly religion and politics will probably never change.  And there are certain movies and music that I will probably always love.  Regardless of what anyone says about it.  Since no one knows everyone else perfectly, we have no room to judge how much their opinions affect their lives.  For example, I'm very touchy on the subject of religion. Those who attack my religion are intolerant, and have very little insight.  Why should I accept your beliefs if you can't accept mine?  You can tell me your opinion on the matter.  But never tell me I'm wrong, especially when it comes to religion.

We should even love each other's differences.  If we were all the same, life would only be enjoyable for a few.  There'd be no diversity, and only a portion of society would ever accept the norm.  Look at Soviet Russia.

Have your opinions, stick to your opinions, and defend your opinions by all means.  But don't rag on other people's opinions because they differ from yours.  That's where hate starts.  And no one ever ends up on top, anger just grows more severe and hate grows deeper.

But then again, that's just my opinion on the matter.