Why Do You Always Say What You Believe?

I've been thinking about this blog post for months as well but I ultimately decided I think too much and just need to share my thoughts.

For a while I was thinking that the first stereotype I wanted to combat was the stereotype of the Mormon Democrat. I'm still planning on doing this, but that will be in the next post. Here I want to look at the bigger picture and challenge the intolerance we tend to feel in response to opposing opinions.

As mentioned in my first post, the discussions I had with my husband, combined with personal introspection, pushed me away from the Republican party. I ultimately realized that my values most closely align with the Democratic party, which is something that I thought would never happen in a million years.

Why?

Perceptions. I won't blame anyone but myself. With my own bias, I perceived Democrats as the "opposition" to the "correctness" of the Republican party. I was so fixed in this mindset that I couldn't find any redeemable qualities to the party's values at all. I registered Republican, I voted Republican, and I panicked and thought of doomsday when Obama won the 2012 election.

Yes, I was one of those people. And yes, I am still a little embarrassed about that.

So after my mission and spending 18 months with the Gospel, learning about the world, seeing things from new perspectives, growing up, graduating from college, learning how to think critically, and getting married to a very passionate person, I found myself starting to form passionate political opinions. Which was also surprising, because I always hated talking about politics. What was even more surprising to me, aside from my newfound political passion, was that I was passionately agreeing with what the Democrats were saying, rather than the other way around.

And I got excited!

I suppose you could say that I was excited to be different. I grew up in Utah Valley, which is unsurprisingly a very, very conservative place. All of a sudden, I found so much value in ideas that aren't widespread, aren't discussed, or sometimes are completely rejected in this area. I loved these ideas! These ideas could help people! These ideas are great! I gotta tell people about this!

So I started to share my ideas on Facebook. The Chosen Medium. Posting articles, liking posts, commenting on everything under the sun.

And my friends list started to shrink.

I have a fancy device on Facebook that tells me who has unfriended me. After I started sharing passionate political posts, friends started to disappear.

I was upset. Now, I didn't know a lot of these people very well, and I can never be sure why some of these people unfriended me, but I did notice that some of my passionately conservative friends removed me from their Facebook. Friends that I had gotten close to in Tennessee. Friends I cared a lot about. And it was really hard for me to be rejected by them because my ideas all of a sudden were different.

On top of that, I wasn't getting very much positive feedback from my posts. Most of my friends are very conservative, so I found that very few were agreeing with me. I started seeing comments pop up that completely counteracted all the ideas that I was trying to encourage people to accept. And I. Got. SO. Frustrated.

So I was planning to stop sharing ideas altogether. My husband encouraged me to keep spreading thoughts and sharing ideas. What good are we doing if we stop? Why let ourselves be silenced?

For those who know me well, they know that I adore the musical, "Hamilton." It depicts a political rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. Hamilton is an immigrant who comes to America with passionate ideas and nothing to lose. Aaron Burr is a crowd-pleaser who keeps his ideas close to his chest in his attempt to avoid rejection and gain political power. These two men do not understand each other at all. One of my favorite lines is sung by Aaron Burr to Hamilton:

"Why do you always say what you believe? Every proclamation guarantees free ammunition from your enemies."

And, in a way, he was right. Hamilton had a lot of obstacles to get through set up by his own political opposition. Many were opposed to his ideas and fought to silence him. Jefferson even said that support of Hamilton's plan for a national bank would be punishable by death.

And we think that politicians today are nuts.

 What I love about Hamilton is that he never was silenced! Despite the opposition he shared ideas, he fought for what he thought was the best for this country, and because he did, he passed an incredibly effective financial plan that took the country from bankruptcy to prosperity following the Revolutionary War. Even his political opponents (mainly Thomas Jefferson and James Madison), after they had taken office, admitted that Hamilton's financial plan was a work of genius.

So, in the end, Hamilton wasn't afraid to share his ideas. Burr timidly waited to speak out until after the public opinion reflected his ideas. Who made the greatest political difference? Hamilton.

So why should we say what we believe when our opinions seem to keep attracting opposition? Because if we really believe that our ideas are going to make a positive difference, then we should share them. Even if people disagree.

Another thing I learned, it's okay if people disagree! At first I was frustrated by everyone posting their conservative agenda on my liberal agenda. But then I realized, isn't the whole point of politics about spreading different ideas and finding the best compromise? Conversations need to happen. The liberals aren't always right, and the conservatives aren't always right. But each party has some good ideas and strong values to bring to the table of compromise. It has always been that way. That is what makes America great!

So, now we finally get to the crux of the idea I want to share, and that is 1) do not be afraid to share your opinions and 2) be tolerant of opposing opinions.

Now, there is a right way and a wrong way to share opinions. I've commented on Facebook posts out of anger and I've regretted some of the things I've written. There's a difference between challenging an idea and challenging a person. I've seen some incredibly rude and hateful comments about people just because their ideas are different. Once we start trying to tear people or their ideas down instead of building up from common ground, we have added to the problem that prevents people from wanting to share ideas in the first place. Are we trying to share our ideas in a non-threatening way? Or are we trying to force people to change their minds? Or are we insulting people because their ideas are "stupid" and they are downright "wrong"?

Share your ideas. Understand that it's okay if people disagree. Understand that you may not be right. Understand that there is value in looking at life through different perspectives.

Do you really want to unfriend that person because he/she thinks differently from you?

Embrace ideas. What good are we doing if we stop?