For some reason, this week reminded me of a protest that
took place while I was in junior high. The school administration had updated
the dress code to exclude combat boots as acceptable footwear. Students were
enraged and organized a walk-out. The principle warned us that any student who
participated would be expelled for leaving the school grounds. There was a lot
of peer pressure to support the cause of the students and join the walk. On the
day of the planned walk out, a boy encouraged me to go with the other students,
and my only response was “but…..I don’t wear combat boots.” He tried to tell me
that it was about supporting the students and treating the dress code as oppressive.
Once again, I responded with “I don’t wear combat boots, therefore, this is not
my protest.” He looked at me with a shocked face. I have never been one to give
into peer pressure or let someone make up my mind for me, even as a child. But
another thing that bothered me was the teachers telling those of us that stayed
behind that we were the good children. We were all good children but I
understood the weight of the consequence and it was not worth the fight.
Watching the video of Ryan Anderson
speaking with Piers Morgan and Suze Orman, I thought that Ryan was clear in
stating that his opposition was not against the homosexuals, but with the
federal government stepping in and overruling the states and more importantly,
the individual right to vote in this particular argument. This overruling goes
against the creation of the federal and state systems of government. But that
point was not received by the host and was almost completely disregarded. The
response was to go for the jugular and asked Ryan why he was against Susie and
her happiness. He did not say one thing about individual happiness and rights
to happiness. He stuck to the point of government organization and fixing the
state tax system to include domestic partnerships without having to change the
historical definition of Marriage. I found myself in knots by the end of the
video and was reminded of the reasons why I don’t like these discussions.
People do not listen. How can we have healthy conversation to come up with a
solution?
I think that the greatest lesson that I have learned from the
lesson this week, speaking specifically about the transcripts of the Supreme
Court hearing, is how important it is to learn the facts before we make a judgement
for ourselves. It is not enough to gather information from friend, family or media.
We should be reading the laws the candidates for which we are voting. We should
seek to understand and gain a testimony or our own. News centers are no longer
the trusting source that they once were. This requires us to listen to the testimonies
of others just as we would want them to listen to our testimony.
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