I remember telling someone I am a Pro-Life supporter during a discussion we were having about the 2012 Republican panel on birth control that didn’t have any female participants. The person’s immediate response was defensive: “Well, I’m Pro-Choice because I believe women should have the right over their own bodies,” she said. I didn’t understand her response since I, being a woman myself, don’t have an issue with that viewpoint. Unbeknownst to her, my reasoning for being Pro-Life is due to my religious beliefs which, by the way, were the topic of another confrontation that ended with a discarded friendship.

My uncle used to say, “Nothing gets heard when you present information on a trash can instead of a platter because people aren’t hearing what you say but how you’re saying it,” and that’s a very good point! When I feel like I am being attacked, I don’t focus on the content of their argument but the fact that they’re arguing.

I have witnessed, or unfortunately been involved in, far too many instances when the correct solution, or even the inhumanity of another’s resolution, has left me pondering whether or not the opposition has any brains at all. Many times in the hallways, and even in classrooms, I have heard students – because I hesitate to call them peers – who broadcast hateful, close-minded, and, frankly, unfounded views towards topics such as religion in particular; Christianity.

Conversation should not be predicated on establishing who is right or who is wrong. More often than not, that leads down a road of biased attacks against an individual based on one of his/her views, which often ends the conversation with hostility and aggravation. Having an opinion does not constitute having an authoritative/superior position over others so, just because I disagree, I don’t have the right to treat others as lesser beings. Nobody deserves to be shamed or personally attacked for his/her beliefs. Nothing truly gets accomplished by arguing over right vs. wrong if the issue in question fades into the background and personal attacks surge to the foreground.

Though I am sometimes tempted to become defensive and comment on their sources of information (or lack thereof), all of that is for my satisfaction – to prove that they are wrong and, therefore, should not contribute offensive opinions. By offending others, I am no better than they are for offending me.

The fact that people can be united by such issues as abortion, gay marriage, or health-care reform is an amazing show of community and unity that seems to be fading from American culture, but it does not excuse mob behavior. It results only in the continuation of this endless cycle of insults, which defeats the purpose of conversing in the first place.