OPINION: Perspectives evolve after finding oneself
The rumor mill has been churning away and delivered to my ears the myth that many Statesman readers suspect I don’t really believe what I write and I’m only trying to spark controversy and anger. My last column of the semester is here to quell these doubts.
Perhaps, a little explanation of my past will lead some skeptical readers to an understanding of how I arrived at some of my conclusions.
As a child I was home-schooled, and very devoutly LDS, remaining a member of the church until I was a 17-year-old senior in high school. I went to public school that year and took a humanities class from an excellent teacher who showed me there were many kinds of people unfamiliar to me who all had different beliefs. I was impressed that there was much more to the world than I had ever understood.
Then I fell in love — as much as a 17-year-old can — with another girl. This, combined with several other personal experiences, pushed me to seriously question what I was taught to believe. I ultimately decided the conservative background I grew up with no longer explained life as I was beginning to understand it.
So with a somewhat painful amount of critical thinking, reading, and self-exploration, I came to discover I am not a religious individual. More intense education revealed religion is responsible for the justification of the majority of atrocious acts committed by humankind — hence my tangible contempt for almost all religious things.
In addition to my religious columns, every other topic I write about is also genuine to my beliefs. I really do think fraternities are simply a method of social casting; pornography can enhance a healthy sex life; and pot smokers are not criminals. And there is a large number of individuals in Logan who feel the same way I do.
Because the thinking community in Utah is so generally unexposed to various opinions, it seems as if what I write is unusual or sacrilegious. Some people told me I should leave Utah if I don’t like the environment.
Well sorry, folks. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, and I actually feel fortunate to be able to write in a newspaper where so many people disagree with my opinions. Outside of Utah my articles really aren’t all that controversial. Even if they were, I’d still write the way I do. It sounds awfully cliché, but if we all had the same beliefs, life in Logan would be even more boring than it already is.
Newspapers should allow writers to express various viewpoints, and I’d like to thank those who have not censored me and have accepted my writing. They pick up plenty of flak from my columns and I admire their refusal to conform under pressure from angry readers.
Believe it or not, there are people in this small valley who have beliefs and opinions that oppose the majority. If you don’t like my columns, don’t read them. Their content isn’t going to get any less controversial next semester — but I hope by now I’ve made it clear that I’m writing my honest beliefs, and don’t do it to anger readers.