The loudest members of any shade in the political spectrum are the extremists and zealots. This is the nature of humanity: you are the loudest about the things you feel strongest about.

But that doesn’t exactly create an environment in which free-thought and creative expression can thrive. How are you supposed to grow into responsible, thoughtful and caring citizens when you’re told all along that one side is righteous and the other is evil?

I’ve spent a good portion of my long Gremlin life trying to convince people that I’m right about certain things. I’ve argued with people about religion, tax codes, civil rights, Constitutional law, stem cell research, sexual education, the role of Government… just about anything. And I’ve come to realize one very important truth: You will never convince someone that you are right by calling them stupid.

But there’s a more important principle at work here. The fact is that the way I feel about certain things change over the course of time. As I learn new things and meet new people, I form new opinions. This is the curse of self-awareness and self-examination. It is also the curse of having a life-span of 250 years.

The Re-Examined Life

I find it impossible to galavant through life, punching holes in other people’s logic and reasoning and not turning that same magnifying glass on my own beliefs. This is because I cannot stand it when someone I’m talking to is so blatantly unaware of their own contradictions. For instance:

“Evolution doesn’t meet scientific standards. It can’t be proven and it makes no predictions. Also, it isn’t potentially falsifiable. So, we need to introduce the theory of Intelligent Design. That makes sense.”

I actually blame liberals for this kind of thinking. We have been told, for decades, that the line between Right and Wrong is a grey one, and that you should always go out of your way not to offend people and that it’s more important to be nice than to be right. This is simply not true. Some kinds of thinking truly are offensive.

Big Bill-O To The Rescue

Bill O’Reilly, a man I’m sure is a favorite around here, often shows off his commitment to free speech by saying things like this:

“This is a free society, so we have to tolerate people like this pinhead who thinks differently than me.”

While Bill is consistently moronic in every medium through which he transmits thought, he has at least managed to help me understand this kind of thinking. Zealots exist in every corner of the political landscape, and there is simply no talking to those kinds of people – people who you can physically see tune you out while you’re talking and they wait for their turn to speak.

You have to try, in every moment of your life, to not be one of those people.