Holding Minority Opinions
Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2016 8:47 am
Brothers / Sisters,
I've been dealing with a general malaise for the past year or so and I think I've figured out the reason for this unease, but not the cure. It occurred to me that all of my fundamental views (about religion, politics, health, relationships, social issues, etc) are widely disparaged by the populace. In other words, every single view I hold is an extreme minority opinion and it's increasingly difficult to communicate with most people about any important issue because they've usually only heard (and accepted) one viewpoint. And those holding minority opinions, no matter how well argued, are seen as silly or even dangerous.
I even set out to study evolution with the hopes of being persuaded by the evidence so at least then I could hold one majority opinion and not be seen as a kook. And yet I wasn't even able to clear that hurdle! The evidence wasn't as persuasive as I'd hoped it would be. Back to square one.
I suppose this is screwing with me because we've all known people are who truly nuts. The kind who wear tin foil hats so the aliens won't read their minds. And that's often the association people make when you hold minority views on many of these subjects. Is this just a matter of caring too much what man thinks? If so, how does one then go about relating to a world filled with such men? Appearing like a kook probably doesn't honor the gospel. But neither does bending to majority opinion against your own reason and conscience.
I've been dealing with a general malaise for the past year or so and I think I've figured out the reason for this unease, but not the cure. It occurred to me that all of my fundamental views (about religion, politics, health, relationships, social issues, etc) are widely disparaged by the populace. In other words, every single view I hold is an extreme minority opinion and it's increasingly difficult to communicate with most people about any important issue because they've usually only heard (and accepted) one viewpoint. And those holding minority opinions, no matter how well argued, are seen as silly or even dangerous.
I even set out to study evolution with the hopes of being persuaded by the evidence so at least then I could hold one majority opinion and not be seen as a kook. And yet I wasn't even able to clear that hurdle! The evidence wasn't as persuasive as I'd hoped it would be. Back to square one.
I suppose this is screwing with me because we've all known people are who truly nuts. The kind who wear tin foil hats so the aliens won't read their minds. And that's often the association people make when you hold minority views on many of these subjects. Is this just a matter of caring too much what man thinks? If so, how does one then go about relating to a world filled with such men? Appearing like a kook probably doesn't honor the gospel. But neither does bending to majority opinion against your own reason and conscience.