I is for Irritating Ignorance. There are only a few things that can get me really, truly angry. Ignorance just bothers me beyond most other character flaws, because it often breeds bigger problems like prejudice, injustice, cruelty, indifference, intolerance and hatred. Ignorance is not the same as not having access to the information. I do not blame the people that simple cannot access the full gambit of news and information due to cray parents, government, poverty or other aspects of their life. It is the group of people that have the resources and time to read and study anything they want but chose not to. Unfortunately, these same people often share their thoughts, beliefs and view of the world with others as fact rather than what it really is. Then more people just fall in line and take everything they say at face value and spread it further to more people.
It is this sort of ignorance that irritates me. It gets me riled up and just plan mad, even if I wish what they were saying were true. Politics, religion, individual rights and freedoms are the most likely topics to suffer from this kind of irritating ignorance. Some people buy into the party line that they are fed with out reading further, examining what is being cited as source and simply going along with what they are told to believe since it is the easy way out. I personally, would rather take the next step and examine the source of information (and my heart depending on the subject at hand) and decide for myself even if the process and my final conclusion are not easy or comfortable. My stance? Help each other, read everything you can, learn everything you can, and leave race, sexual orientation, political affiliation, religious beliefs and everything else at the door. It is the heart and mind that matter- so fill those as full as you can with a wide variety of things and simply try to be the best person you can. I try not to judge anything or anyone, and if I do it is only after I feel that I have all available information (from all sides) on the topic. It is not my place to stand in judgement of anyone else. It is on me to tech my children to be good people and to be the best person I can be while causing no harm to others or the world around me.
Sorry, did not mean to get all preachy there. But all the political talk and wrangling lately seems to have gotten me more riled up than I thought.
4 comments:
Good post. I couldn't agree more. We all need to leave our differences at the door and help one another!
I tend to avoid political discussions for this very reason. Most people are so convinced they're right without knowing all the facts.
Oh, man, I hear you! Drives me CRAZY when people don't think for themselves. I get that there are people who sincerely believe different stuff with me... they have different underlying metatheories. But the people spouting stuff they have never looked into, especially when they've been TOLD by someone who is just manipulating them.... GRRRRRR!
Fantastic post, don't apologize!
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