CLAIMING THE RIGHT TO YOUR OPINION CAN BE A BLOCK TO LEARNING SO GIVE
QUESTIONS NOT OPINIONS
If you think a person wants to waste your time by ending your chat with I have a
right to my opinion then make sure you ask them questions so that they see the
contradiction in their thinking. People are less defensive when they are asked
to think.
Do not let yourself be bullied by people who go “I am entitled to my opinion.”
You have told them your belief and opinion fair and square and they come back
defensive which is an attempt to get more honour and protection for their
opinion at the expense of yours. They demand respect for their opinion - by
which they mean it should not be disputed - while they dispute yours. They are
saying, "I dispute your opinion that mine should be questioned. I am being
unreasonable because an opinion means that which is open to dispute." They are
trying to silence you as if their opinions are about them and not the world.
Their opinions are not about them. People who think their opinions are about
them are the ones who are trampling on the poor and oppressing others. Don't be
an enabler of such horror. Mostly it is religious people who go “I am entitled
to my opinion.” That warns you about the dangers of religion.
Remember that the person who asserts their right to their opinion in an attempt
to silence you is denying your right of freedom of speech. Yet they assert their
freedom of speech in order to claim they have a right to their opinion. What
about yours? They should be told what they are doing!
If some opinions are sacred and nobody must ever say they could be wrong then
freedom of speech is nonsense. Those who use freedom of speech to curtail
freedom of speech are hypocrites who do what they condemn in others. Who decides
what opinions are sacred? Who decides how many of them are sacred?
Freedom of speech is far more important of a right than a right to opinion.
There would be no opinions without communication. And an opinion must always be
expressed in a spirit of, "I would like to be corrected if I'm wrong, but this
is my opinion." That is what opinions are all about - trying to get the truth
instead of trying to be a fundamentalist and encourage nonsense. The right to my
opinion brigade does not know what an opinion is - a provisional position until
further information comes.
You do not have the right to your opinion. You have the freedom to have your
opinion but that is a different thing. It does not follow that because you are
given the freedom to say things that you have the right to say them. You do not
have the right to see a strange light in a cinema and then express the opinion
to others that it could be a fire. The law will come down on you for that!
"I have a right to my opinion" is common.
It is not rude to ask the person who says it, "And on what grounds do you think
you have the right to hold this opinion?" They invited the question whether they
care to admit it or not.
And it is not rude to say, "You are saying you have a right to think something
to be true. That means you saying you have to be open to checking it out." You
could then change the subject.
Or you could say, "I agree. We both know opinions are just views we hold about
the truth and that we have to make sure we are informed correctly."
The rule of thumb is, NEVER EVER LET "I HAVE A RIGHT TO MY OPINION" BE THE LAST
WORD!
The freedom that comes from talking about an uncomfortable truth is better than
the comfort of avoiding that talk altogether.