He asked for YOUR opinion...
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Posted by: diehl ® 05/12/2002, 17:56:18 Author Profile Mail author

This happened a few weeks ago, but its still bugging me... One of my classmates (remember I'm a junior in High School) had a project relating to Bills (the type that may become laws).  He chose one to ban the death penalty, and he was asking us about out opinion on it (hoping to gather some ideas/arguments on it).  I gave my answer of "I oppose simply because it lets them off easy, I favor solitary confinement where they are locked in a dark room and never see a human being or the sky again... killing them only shortens their suffering" (I do not believe there is an afterlife).  Others at the table gave their answers (both for and against for various reasons)... and when I came to Maria (an Orthodox Christian), she said she would have to ask her priest about it.  Now he asked us for our OPINION.  When I tried to explain to her how ridiculous it is to ask someone else for 'your' opinion is, she didn't understand... she wanted to give the "right" answer.  I further explained that there is no "right" or "wrong" to an opinion (again this was apparently beyond her understanding).  To make it easier to comprehend, I asked her what her favorite color was... she answered immediately.  I then asked her, "now isn't that your opinion?"  "Yes."  Can that be judged right or wrong?  "No."  Then why can't you do the same on other opinions... like the "death penalty"?  "Because they're different!"  "How so?"  She couldn't give an answer...   Is it I or is this depressing?  She is a good friend of mine, but I find it pathetic that she puts so much in any institution or system.  I guess I created this thread to vent, so you are all welcome to share similar anecdotes about dismaying trends, actions, or thoughts (or in many cases lack thereof).

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Re: He asked for YOUR opinion...
Re: He asked for YOUR opinion... -- diehl		Top of thread	Archive

Posted by: Wayne Wilson ® 05/12/2002, 19:23:14 Author Profile Mail author

I disagree with you. Opinions can only be formed with experience, or reading of enough literature on the subject by trusted autorities. Maria trusts her priest as a moral authority, it seems natural that she would go to him in order to form an opinion. You did not form your opinion independantly, you took in information on the death penalty and compared it with what you think is right and wrong, then came up with something. In the future you may change your opinion with new information, if that information validates or invalidates what you previously thought. No one can tell Maria what to think wether it is her favorite color or the death penalty, when it comes to her favorite color she is the ultimate authority; but with the death penalty, if she felt she did not have enough information to give an educated opinion then she should not be forced to. She was being smart, not pathetic. Wayne Modified by Wayne Wilson at Sun, May 12, 2002, 19:24:57

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Re: He asked for YOUR opinion...
Re: He asked for YOUR opinion... -- diehl		Top of thread	Archive

Posted by: Bahman ® 05/12/2002, 23:52:41 Author Profile Mail author

I ditto Wayne completely. In short, the ‘taste’ in colors or other such things can’t be compared to ‘opinions’ in serious issues that require a good deal of knowledge and thought.

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She does not deserve to be asked.
Re: He asked for YOUR opinion... -- diehl		Top of thread	Archive

Posted by: jesse ® 05/13/2002, 09:27:05 Author Profile Mail author

If she's an adult and has to go and ask someone else for HER opinoin, she does not deserve to be asked for any opinion. After all this is not some strange subject that she's probably never heard of before. And if she's does not have an opinoin she should simply say so.

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Re: She does not deserve to be asked.
Re: She does not deserve to be asked. -- jesse		Top of thread	Archive

Posted by: Wayne Wilson ® 05/13/2002, 15:47:48 Author Profile Mail author

Jesse The person in question is in high school. Going to talk with her priest does not mean that she is asking him what she should think. But asking for his views on the subject. Because he may have more knowledge concerning the issue. Even Adults ask others what they think in order to form an educated opinion. Infact the most intelligent people I know are always asking questions. Wayne

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