No One Asked You (101 Ways to Fuck Off)

Opinion

There is a lovely thing called an opinion. Now, this phrase is quite possibly one of my biggest self-conflicts in life, (and I might be guilty on accounts of abusing this right) but some people just don't understand the time and place for debating/yelling matches.

(I was by all means guilty of this as well, but I've learned. :D)

There will be times when you might be angry.

There will be times when you are upset.

There will be times when you are on your man/menstruation cycle, and you are just a big ball of tears and hissy-fits.

None of these times will allow you to express your opinion coherently.

I'll give you an example.

One day, I was alone in a classroom (teacher was outside the door) with my good friends Brandon (@BeastModeGAMER) and Dave. Now, Brandon is a very intelligent young fellow, and is generally open-minded to people of all kinds. Although he may use an occassioanl slur, when I stop him and say, "Dude, don't say that," he understands when he stops and thinks about it. I don't know Dave too well outside of joking around in class.

Brandon and I were having a discussion on the use of "gay" as a word for "lame" or just generally something negative. I am very "passionate" on this issue, seeing as I am about as straight as Ray Toro's hair, and was getting "a little heated" on the topic.

That was when Dave spoke up.

"That's...that's not right."

Brandon and I looked at each other.

"That's messed up," he said again.

"What is?" I asked him, assuming it was something about class, seeing as he hadn't been involved in the conversation beforehand.

"Being gay...that's not right. That's not what the bible says."

This is where I flipped my shit.

"What?! So you're trying to tell me that if a person is gay, that person is 'wrong'?" I started yelling, getting up in his face. "If you found out that a person was gay, you would tell them that they were going to burn in hell?"

"No, but I would maybe think that. I might think that but I wouldn't say it to their face. That's rude."

Brandon chimed in, "In the bible it says that during the rapture, there are going to be two gay men, and God is gong to take one of them. That means that God has no discrimination against being gay!"

Now keep in mind, Dave had remained calm and near silent the entire time I had yelled at him, not getting angry, not getting flustered, not getting defensive or overly-aggressive.

I can't actually remember what happened after that.

But, I do know that going to lunch and reflecting on what I had said, I knew exactly what he must have been thinking.

"What a crazy-ass atheist white chick."

To be completely honest, I know I'm somewhat crazy (I prefer the term passionate, but whatever) but I knew that getting upset and accusing Dave of these things was NO way to convince him that I was right. I should have respected his opinion by not screaming in his face (literally I was practically pressed against his chest). He wasn't exactly going around waving anti-gay flags in our faces. He kept his opinions to himself and only spoke because he felt comfortable enough to express what he thought.

Did he say anything about gays burning in hell?

No.

Did he scream at Brandon and I that we were all wrong and that Jesus was the only way?

No.

So was I right to accuse to of these things that I had heard from other Jesus-freaks?

Absolutely not.

By all means, stand up for what you believe in 110%, but do not tell other people that they are wrong for what they believe in, because it is just that.

An opinion.

(Aww, wasn't that nice, tying the whole lecture back to the beginning?)

Anywho, the next day I apologized for screaming at him when he was simply expressing his opinion, (but not saying that he was right), and we're all good now.

Stand up for what you believe in, but don't step on other people on the way.

Much love,

=^kat^=