It would be an absolute rarity to go throughout life without ever encountering someone with beliefs or opinions that differ from our own. As people, we are all individually unique, meaning it’s almost impossible to engage with someone who completely and entirely agrees without hesitation with another persons beliefs and opinions.
Despite our obvious and rather understandable differences, I’m noticing as of late that a difference in beliefs or opinions is becoming an issue as opposed to being a constant in our societal state. We are living in a world that discourages end even chastises alternate perceptions and interpretations of things, one very relevant example being one’s stance towards the Coronavirus vaccine.
My mom and I had a conversation about the vaccine the other day and how baffling it is to her and I how common, and further normalized, asking someone if they have gotten their vaccine(s) has become. Since when is it socially acceptable to ask someone a personal question related to their health? We certainly don’t approach people and ask them if they’ve had their yearly physical, so why do we intrude and ask if someone has been vaccinated?
I’m using the vaccine as an example for the sake of this post, but really, any example would work. Whether or not someone has or hasn’t received their vaccination is no one’s business but their own, so why do we feel the need to dissect and impede on their own belief and opinion?
I firmly believe we have become so self-absorbed and entitled that we view it as our right to belittle opinions or stances if they differ from our own, and this is an extremely toxic and harmful practice. It creates division, isolation and exclusion, and it shouldn’t be tolerated.
We are who we are. And we don’t owe an explanation to anyone.
ontheedgeofeverything 
Well said. It deeply saddens me to see how COVID has created such a great divide not only in the world, but also among families. It’s sad how mankind has succumbed to the lure of division when we all claim that we stand for unity of mankind, touting Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, etc. But suddenly people have dug their feet in and will not acknowledge the rights of others with respect of vaccination. I am vaccinated but I respect the rights of others, knowing that those who choose to be unvaccinated are cautious and are accepting the possible consequences, unlike the rest of the world (mostly the vaccinated now) who were not responsible from the get-go and thus the spread continued. It is their choice. Have we all been careful the 2 weeks after vaccination while were contagious? Maybe we, too, are to blame for the spread. The bottom line is that we need to show respect and avoid hate speech and pointing of fingers if we truly think that we are people who encourage acceptance and unity of mankind. Bottom line is BE KIND AND RESPECTFUL.
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I couldn’t agree more! Thank you for reading. 🙂
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