Black and White?

The world is not black and white!

No matter what you think, there will always be something more to it, another side if you will!

There are many polarizing topics in the world, and as Election Season is upon us, I am reminded of this.

I lived in a black and white world for a good chunk of my life, but then I leaned to question things, to look at both sides. You see, nothing that I have ever come across is strictly right or strictly wrong, there is always something more to it.

What kinds of things are those, Matt?

Take for instance the topic of abortion. Yeah, I jumped into the ultimate of polarizing topics. This is something I grew up thinking was completely wrong, there was no other way about it, it was wrong. Then I got older, I learned to think about the other side of it. I learned to ask questions about the topic. Questions like, why would you have one, what would the outlawing of something like this do, questions like that for a start. Suddenly things weren’t so clear to me, and as time has gone on, it has gotten even more blurry. I suddenly found myself in the position of defending a woman’s right to choose, I realized that I don’t have to agree with the act to support the decision. That’s the eye opener of all eye opener’s.

I realized that there are many things in this world that I don’t have to agree with on the surface, to support it in the long run.

Not enough of us realize this.

In this world we let parents, teachers, and religions decide things for us without even questioning why. We have opinions formed for us before we learn to think independently, and unfortunately a lot of us don’t go on to question our opinions. Too many of us trust those that have imparted their “wisdom” upon us, and don’t look behind the curtain. There is a reason that The Great and Powerful Oz hides who he really is, he knows that if you see back there, you won’t take his word for it anymore. That is what we need to do, look beyond it all, look through it, and then find ourselves on the other side.

I don’t care if you agree with me or disagree with me, just as long as you’re willing to look at the topic as a whole. Don’t limit yourself to only one side of the story, only half of the information…learn!

That’s what I implore all of you to do, learn, listen, then act.

That is what will allow our world to be a better place. That is what will allow our world to have fruitful discussions and debates. That is what will allow all of us to find a common ground that we can move forward from.

I used the topic of abortion earlier because it is a big deal in this world, and because it is very apparent whenever politicians are involved, and their stances on topics are brought to light. I recently say excerpts of an interview with a man that is trying to get abortion outlawed in his state. When asked to look at it from the woman’s point of view, and what she might be going through when making that decision, he hemmed and hawed for a bit and then answered. He demurred for a bit, and then chose an economic stand point for why she might. When asked about this, he admitted that he had never thought of it from a woman’s point of view. Let that settle in your brain. A woman’s right to choose, a woman’s right to decide, a woman’s right to a healthy and safe action… This man wanted to take all of that away, and he had never even looked at it from the woman’s side.

This is the world we live in right now, and this is how thinking in blacks and whites affects us!

The world is full of different points of views, different ethnic origins, different cultures, different opinions. It is on you to seek information, to learn as you go, because the world deserves people that see the grey of it all.

Open yourself up, you might be surprised at what you find.