What I'm thankful for: August 1

Today I'm thankful for...

Opinions!

There's been a lot of hubbub lately concerning people's thoughts on a popular chicken restaurant and its thoughts on gay marriage. I have friends on both sides of the issue and they all insist that they're correct, everyone else is wrong, and whoever disagrees hates kittens and sunshine.

Here's the thing: no one really cares.

I don't mean to be flippant or rude, but honestly, how much more of this back and forth can we take? It's gone beyond civil discourse and into hateful territory. Everyone who has an opinion feels strongly about it, and nothing that the "other side" says can make them change their mind, and that's okay. We were given free will for a reason, and it's okay to express your own opinions in a respectful way. I may not agree with you, but I don't have to. It's called an opinion for a reason. I know what I believe about this and a lot of other controversial issues, and I know that if I argue with someone with opposite opinions, I'm not doing anything to further my cause or help sway them. This may seem apathetic, but it's just been on my mind a lot lately. I will gladly express my opinions, if asked, but I'm not going to try to force people to agree with me. I think I have the right opinion/viewpoint, so what does it matter if some random person on Facebook that I don't even really know disagrees with me? Exactly.

I didn't mean for this to become a mini-rant, but I'm tired of having other people's opinions, both those that conflict and those that agree with mine, shoved in my face. I'm not going to argue dissenters, and I'm not going to rally behind those I agree with; I'm okay being a little passive here and standing up for things that I truly want to influence people about, like their salvation (Jesus juke...lol). So, you have your opinion, and I'll have mine, and as long as we both agree to disagree, we'll be fine.