2016 Apr 22
by Sanjuli Gunatillake Ekanayake
“But I have a right to my own opinion!”
Do you use those words often?
If you don’t, but you know someone who does, keep reading.
If you do (also keep reading), consider this. Do you say things like “I don’t think certain types of people should have certain things given to them,” for example: homosexual couples shouldn’t be allowed to adopt, women shouldn’t be allowed to have abortions, men shouldn’t be given an equal platform when it comes to child custody in divorce, etc. Do you say things like that and say the words, “but that’s just my opinion”?
We’re done with you, and your hiding behind those words. You think saying it absolves you from having to take responsibility for the consequences that come with the words preceding that. It doesn’t.
I’m done being polite.
Misandrists, misogynists, homophobic people, transphobic people, xenophobic people, you apparently didn’t pay attention to much of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights except the “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression” part.
You assume that just because I say a few “politically correct” things like “being gay is okay”, I think I’m above you somehow. Not at all. I accept people for being who they are, because they’re not hurting anyone by being the way they were born. That’s why I am above you. Along with the other open-minded people of previous generations, the current generation and future generations, who are also above you, because when you say something that belittles or degrades someone, and then say “but that’s just my opinion, of course,” you put yourself right at the bottom of the food chain. You must be thinking “it’s all well and good for her to degrade and belittle those of us who have a traditional mindset then, it’s alright for her to attack us. What she’s doing is bullying, too.” Well, I apologize heartily for hurting your feelings, but when we tried being nice, you didn’t hear what we had to say.
What you’re doing, with your continuous belittling of people with your “opinions,” has a body count. There is a death toll, but you don’t care because you believe that hiding behind your “opinions” removes the bloodstains on your hands.
I understand that you may stand up and say “well, if they had a problem with what we said, they shouldn’t have listened.” But that’s not the point, is it? The point is that you shouldn’t have said those hurtful things at all, you should have just accepted these people for who they are and moved on with it like the rest of us. Why don’t you? Honestly, our trying to show you that your inability to accept people for what they are born as is getting as old for us as it is for you. If it’s not your own life, you have no say in it.
You think an article, or a status, or a bunch of words aren’t going to make an impact. You think that just because I write, I’m not going to change anything. True. My writing isn’t going to change anything. People who share my ideas, who are able to confront a narrow-minded person hiding behind a human right (a right which was included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with the sole purpose of ensuring peaceful communication, so that people wouldn’t be killed or the like just because they felt a different way about an issue, not a right created so you can go around saying nasty things) will change everything. They will either change your mind or, if that doesn’t work, just sit back and watch natural selection take its course.
I know you know at least one person who sorely needs to be told these things. If you’re unsure as to who this person is, chances are that you are the person who needs to take to heart the message I’m trying to spread. Because you know who nobody likes? Nobody likes an unkind human being.
