06/13/2025: Unpopular Opinions and Mindful Disagreements

Have you ever done your own research instead of letting others do it for you? Do you know what you believe and who you really are? It’s hard to know in today’s world whether we take biased news at face value or merely parrot the stances of people we know instead of doing our due diligence to find our own truths. 

It may be an unpopular opinion, but I believe that if we’re not constantly striving to learn and grow that we’re slowly dying. It may be the harder thing to do, but we owe it to ourselves to be well informed about the worldly issues that are important to us, and we owe it to ourselves to be as authentic as possible despite what the world asks of us.

I never dreamed we’d be on the fast track to a world where thinking differently could lead to violence and harm, a world where the right to say what we think and feel is awarded with revoked rights and unconstitutional acts. But here we are, so I’m getting the free speech in while the getting is still good. It sounds like some sick joke, but this is the state of the world, and if we continue to let things escalate like they have been, then we’re all doomed. 

No matter what you believe, you reserve your right to hold those beliefs, and to speak out peacefully about said beliefs. I don’t know if most of the population even realizes that disagreeing mindfully is an option available to all of us. There isn’t - and will never be - anything wrong with respectfully disagreeing, or better yet, agreeing to disagree. And there is nothing wrong with exercising your rights to do so peacefully.

I can’t stress the peaceful part enough in the midst of what’s happening outside currently. I understand that people are being pushed to their limits in regards to blatant disregard of basic human rights and laws, but I also understand that violent retaliation is exactly what the oppressors want from us. It’s all they need from us to escalate the issues further to the point where we all suffer by their greedy and malicious hands. 

I know how it looks, one side merely holding cardboard signs in solidarity for rights that belong to the people, the other side armed to the teeth and aiming deliberate shots at these peaceful protesters. But we could stand to cut back on the direct assaults and vandalism, if only to not give the oppressors the satisfaction of denying us our right to stand together in non-hostile fellowship. Because if we just break the law right back, how does that make our cause look? Do we want to be just like them? Or do we want to rise above and protect what really matters: our freedom?