When the first person said that the earth wasn’t flat - people became abrasive. When a man said that the earth was not the center of the universe, perhaps the sun was the center of this galaxy, he was outcast,
condemned, and I think he was improsined by the church maybe? My point is this, when you are presented with something you do not like, consider it an opportunity to test your choice of freedom. I often find myself reminding myself that another person’s opinion, speech, or art, however much I may disagree with, or find offense in, is what they are projected at this time in their life, and this is their right.
I know that this is a tough thing to swallow, but as much as I may or may not agree with something that someone else is doing, I know that I can not walk in their shoes and know what they have experienced (or not experienced) in their lives. The saying “walk in another man’s shoes” is bullshit. It is just not possible. I can take time and try to understand another person, but I can never know what it is like to have lived their lives.
There are many things that I find ignorant or offensive throughout my life, and at times it is a hard pill to swallow. I am all for people expressing themselves, opinions, ideas and art. I do not like a lot of it, or agree with it, but I do not think that any group pf people should try to limit what a another group of people choose to do or say.
Once I got to the level of respecting a person right to choose to make stupid, controversial statements, I now realise that this becomes an opportunity for discussion and further understanding.
More on this later.
