Can’t we just agree to disagree?

No! That’s the resounding answer I tend to get from friends, family (oh man do I get it from the family), newscasters, religious leaders, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindu’s, Scientologists, sports fans, etc. We can’t both have an opinion that’s valid. I’m right and you’re wrong! Bill O’Reilly thinks so. Keith Olberman thinks so. Sean Hannity thinks so. Pat Robertson thinks so. Mugabe thinks so. Al-Sadr thinks so. Kim Jong-il thinks so. Red Sox fans, Yankees fans, Red State / Blue State people, Obama, Clinton, McCain – they all think so. They’re right and if you don’t agree you’re wrong. There is no dialogue – just debate.

In America, at some point during this century, we went from being able to have healthy dialogues to having debates. People feel the need to have to prove themselves right, many times by beating someone down. If I hear someone’s opinion it’s not just good enough for me to understand it, I have to agree with them. If I don’t agree I’m not intelligent. Or I’m close minded. Or I’m uninformed. Maybe they turn up the decibel levels of the conversation. Maybe they get emotional with me. Maybe they decide to talk about me behind my back. When did this happen? Why can’t opinions be different and both be correct? They are opinions after all.

I started this blog as a way to get dialogue going about my brother the Atheists book. Some of the anecdotal feedback has been good: “thanks for letting me know about your brother the Atheists book”; “interesting questions your brother the Atheist is raising”; “good insight into the wackiness that is organized religion – thanks for posting it”. However some has been confusing: “Why are you so angry about your brother the Atheists book?”; “why is your brother the Atheist so angry with your blog?”; “why can’t you see that’s he’s right and you’re wrong?”

Lets get this down in print right now – I’m not angry about the book! I’m not angry with my brother the Atheist! Heck – I want him to sell a million copies, write another book, sell another million copies, get on Oprah and decide to share some of the wealth with me (if he doesn’t share the wealth I’ll be forced to tell all of those embarrassing stories related to bed wetting, fear of spiders, experimentation with cross dressing, etc…. whoops, maybe I just did!). He and I are great friends – at least from my point of view. We travel together, our wives are close friends, we do business together, we make each other laugh, we talk regularly. I don’t think our relationship has changed at all over the past several months/years. The book was not a surprise to me, nor was it a surprise that my brother is an Atheist. He and I have talked about this since we were teens. And for all of my close minded readers, I’m not going to have an issue with his beliefs – sorry. It’s his decision to believe what he wants to. It’s a well informed decision.

Now, hopefully everyone is on the same page here. It’s ok to be different, to like different things, to believe differently. Here are some of the things I believe:

I believe in global warming (sorry Dad) and that it’s our responsibility to help the planet. I believe that Obama would make a better president than either McCain or Clinton. I think Rush, O’Reilly, Hannity, etc are all full of crap and tend to lie or embellish to get their points across. The same goes for Al Franken who’s the same as Rush only left leaning. I think Pat Robertson and Dr. Dobson should retire before they open their mouths the next time. I don’t believe there’s any news agency that’s not biased, and therefore everyone should watch / read multiple sources (not all conservative or all liberal) to get a true picture of what’s going on out there. I disagree with the war in Iraq. I don’t think we should have gone to war in Vietnam. I think ice cream is disgusting. New born puppies smell nicer than new born babies. U2 and REM are the greatest bands of this and most other generations. Dave Mathews Band is overrated. Tequila is the greatest drink invented, next to a Flaming Moe. Baseball on TV sucks. The NCAA tournament is the greatest sporting event in the world. Popeye’s fried chicken is proof of a god. Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino are mailing it in during the late stages of their careers. The Office is currently the best show on TV. Reality TV sucks (all of it) and dumbs’ down all of us. The electric car was a great idea killed by big auto and the government. Frank Caliendo is not funny. The band of gold in the song is a wedding ring.

If you don’t agree with my opinion, ok. Tell me why. Post a comment. I won’t get mad. I might not agree with you… and that’s OK. So what? It’s just my opinion, right?