TASK #24

June 7th--June 13th

Hell No!

Men and nations behave rationally once they have exhausted all the other alternatives. Abba Eban



TASK #24

June 7--June 13th

Hell No!

"Men and nations behave rationally once they have exhausted all the other alternatives." Abba Eban


Well, the last couple of weeks have been interesting. After watching the George Floyd video I have come to the same conclusion that most Americans have come to: that he was killed for no good reason. It was heinous, reprehensible, and their arrest was righteous. They'll get their day in court...

As for the protests, they strike me as I imagine that they strike just about everyone else: they are powerful, necessary, and justifiable. As for the looting: they are sickening, and make me angry.

At any rate, I took some time this week to think the discord in our country, but more personally and specifically, the manner in which I disagree with others.

Like most people, men in particular, I have strong points of views.I adopt intense, often rigid opinions on almost any subject under the sun. I can argue about sports, food, sex, money, cars, liquor, movies and politics. 

But thinking about it, I wondered if I open to another point of view. Am i able to hear someone else?  Even if I disagree, can I RESPECT their point of view? Even if their point of view is odious to me? 

I don't think I do. So I sat down and wrote down a list of things that set me off (the kind of things that are always in the news that people have different points of views on, like abortion, gun control, Trump, criminal justice, Ohio State-Michigan, that sort of thing) and I settled on abortion. I chose on one issue--gun control, and wrote down how I feel about it. In my case I am anti-NRA. So I had a long list of gripes about people who own guns. When I was done I got on-line and went to the NRA website (https://home.nra.org/ and started to read. Then I called a friend who keeps a pistol in a locked bock under his bed and I talked to him. 

What did I learn. A lot...

TASK:

Find your issue. Look at the other side. Educate yourself. You don't have to change your 

If you have any questions or comments, e-mail me at joedoebula@gmail.com